


Eyes Like Broken  Christmas Lights

by gsrtauctez, vividmemories



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, Panic Attacks, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Soulmate AU, Soulmate Monochromia AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2019-10-23 12:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17683046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gsrtauctez/pseuds/gsrtauctez, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vividmemories/pseuds/vividmemories
Summary: Lance McClain had been dreaming of meeting his soulmate since he had first learned they existed.Keith Kogane has dreaded it.But when Lance wakes up to a world full of color after a night he doesn't remember, a witch hunt ensues to find his soulmate. As Lance attempts to figure out who turned his world from monochrome to the bright beautiful colors, he enlists the help of Keith, but simultaneously finds himself falling in love with him, even though Lance knows that Keith could never feel the same way.





	1. It Hurts Until It Stops

Pulling up to the Daibazal mansion, Lance winced at the sudden burst of noise that bombarded him as he opened the car door and stepped into the driveway, already littered with beer cans and solo cups. The sounds spilling from the luxurious house could be heard all the way from the streets outside, and Lance could hear the drunken shouts and chatter from the lawn. He started to walk towards the front door, only to stop as it swung open to reveal Hunk, clad in his signature orange bandana, as he ran out of the mansion to greet Lance with a hug.

“Hey man, me and Shay ’ve been waiting for you.” Hunk gestured to the door. “Want to go inside? I can grab us drinks.”

“Yeah, sure dude,” Lance responded with a shrug.

Together, they walked inside, only to be met with the immediate smell of alcohol on the breath of everyone they passed. Lance had never quite enjoyed that aspect of parties, with people passing the time by drinking. He much preferred the lively dance floor. As he entered the room, his eyes quickly sought out Nyma, who was casually draped across one of the couches, drink in hand. She swirled the drink with her fingertip as she beckoned for Lance to join her.

Lance cast a glance at Hunk, “You want to go see Nyma with me? M’lady awaits.”

Hunk got an anxious look in his eyes, before they quickly darted around the room, looking for an escape. His eyes finally found a familiar face among the crowd, “Yeah, you know Lance, I, I just saw Shay, actually, and um, I… I’m just gonna go. Talk to her. Bye.” Hunk darted back into the crowd, leaving Lance looking at the place he last was.

“Guessing that’s a no then.”

Now, Lance knew that Nyma wasn’t his soulmate. His world was still devoid of color, his eyes only recognizing the dreary black and greys. Still, she was the only girl who had ever shown any interest in him, and as his first relationship, it felt nice to be someone’s first choice.

Walking towards his girlfriend, he flopped onto the couch next to her, sliding an arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him. He kissed her forehead, and turned to look into her dull colored eyes. Lance would sometimes wonder what her eyes would look like in color. Would they be blue or green or maybe blue with gold flecks like his dad used to say his mom had. But whatever color they were, Lance was sure it would be beautiful.

Nyma offered Lance her drink, stretching it towards him with a perfectly manicured hand. He accepted the drink and took a small sip, grimacing at the taste of the cheap beer.

She peered up at him smirking, “Why don’t you finish this? I’ll go grab another one.”

She quickly stood up and disappeared into the kitchen. Lance, alone once more, searched the room for any more familiar faces. On the sofa adjacent, he spotted Lotor and Allura sitting together. They were talking animatedly with large gestures, leaning into each other with bright smiles adorning their faces. Lance smiled at the display of happiness the two soulmates had, so in love that the party seemed only like background noise to them.

Turning towards the dance floor, he could see Zethrid and Ezor dancing to a familiar beat. Suddenly, Lance recognized the song, and perked up at the tune of “Despacito”. He immediately rose from the couch and glided onto the dance floor. Swaying his hips to the beat while belting out the catchy lyrics, Lance made his way towards the couple. Greeting them with a smile, he continued singing along, increasing in volume until the girls relented and joined him.

Soon enough half of the crowd were screaming the lyrics as they drunkenly danced alongside each other. As the song came to a close, Lance caught glimpse of Shay and Hunk talking to Keith Kogane, resident bad boy of their small town, Cave Creek, Arizona. Keith was Lance’s self-proclaimed rival, starting from the moment he moved to town and got a 100 on the first test of the semester while Lance had only gotten a 98. Can you believe the injustice?! From then on, Lance aspired to beat Keith at anything and everything.

Sadly, Hunk and Shay were friends with Keith, quickly taking a liking to the loner and inviting him to sit with them at lunch. Lance, of course, had been appalled when their friendship took off, seeing it as a personal attack against him. It’s not that Keith is necessary that bad, it’s just that Lance had mixed feelings about him, for example, how could someone so infuriating be that attractive? Objectively speaking, of course. Anyone could see it, Lance had even elicited from Hunk that Keith was easy on the eyes.

However, one’s appearance can never be enough to rid them of their horrible personality traits. Especially his mullet, which was so horrid it had a personality of its own. Not to mention his brash tendencies, which could be only be described as volatile and irrational.

Blinking out of his reverie, Lance expertly maneuvered through the crowds and approached the three conversing.

“So, what’s mister lone wolf doing at Lotor Daibazaal’s party? I thought you never left your house.” Lance jabbed.

“Real funny McClain,” Keith replied in a monotone voice. He stared at Lance nonchalantly before turning back to his conversation with Shay and Hunk.

“Really?” Lance gasped dramatically, placing a hand against his heart feigning hurt, “I’ve been reduced to just my last name? How rude, mullet.”

Keith rolled his eyes and continued ignoring the other boy. Huffing with hurt pride, Lance turned towards Hunk.

“Can you believe this guy?” he scoffed

Hunk sighed, “He’s not that bad.”

“Also, he can hear you,” Keith commented, staring directly into Lance’s eyes.

How is it fair that even without color, Keith’s eyes somehow managed to capture more emotion than Nyma’s ever could? Too bad Keith was an asshole and Lance would never date him.

Probably.

Lance realized he had been gazing into the other boy’s eyes much longer than what was socially acceptable. Averting his eyes, he once again searched for Nyma in the drunk crowd. He caught a glimpse of her long hair as it disappeared into the kitchen.

“Whatever,” Lance muttered, before shooting finger guns in Keith’s direction. “Later dudes.”

He shoved his way through inebriated couples too busy making out to notice him. When he finally broke through the frenzy, he opened the door to the kitchen, fully prepared to rant to his girlfriend about the harsh exchange with Keith, but stopped suddenly when he saw one of his worst nightmares splayed out before him.

On the countertop, Nyma sat with her legs wrapped around Rolo’s waist. They were furiously making out, pressed so far against each other you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. They were too absorbed in each other to realize Lance had been there, much less already turned and slammed the door behind him, tears beginning to fall freely down his face.

He pushed through the stream of people, in hot pursuit of a drink to drown away his sorrows.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Keith nursing a beer. Walking up to the boy, Lance grabbed the beer out of the other teenager’s hand and brought it to his lips. In five seconds the beer had disappeared, leaving a tipsy Lance and a bewildered Keith in its wake.

“What the fuck Lance! ” Keith exclaimed, reaching out to grab Lance’s wrist.

Lance avoided the unwanted touch by turning away, with the intent of searching out another drink.

“I’ll tell you, but first, Vodka.”

Keith elbowed his way to where Lance was making a beeline towards the shots. Once Lance had gotten ahold of a drink, Keith watched in horror as Lance downed six shots in a row. As Lance reached for a seventh shot, Keith grabbed Lance by the jacket and hauled him towards the door.

Lance groaned as he was dragged away from his drink, “But... the vodka!” Lance slurred.

“Not now, Lance. You’re already drunk enough as it is.”

“I’m not drunk enough if I can still remember my name.”

“Ok, buddy, but if you pass out, I’m not gonna be the one dragging you home.”

“That’s fine by me, now bring me the keg” he said, making grabby hands in the direction of the liquor.

Keith looked at Lance with a worried expression, “Um, I’m going to go get Hunk. You stay here and he’ll take you home.” Keith spared Lance one last glance, before he turned away and disappeared into the crowd.

 

* * *

 

Keith had searched almost every room for Hunk in the past hour. However, he hadn’t been adventurous enough to check in any of the bedrooms upstairs, afraid of running into couples doing a little bit more than just making out.

Walking back towards where he had left Lance, Keith ran into Lotor. He was standing with his arm draped around Allura, both wearing matching smiles.

“Have you guys seen Hunk?” Keith asked.

“Not since about an hour ago,” Lotor responded.

“Actually I think I saw him leave with Shay. She did not look too well.” Allura said with concern lacing her voice.

Keith sighed, “Great. So now I have to lug Lance’s drunk ass home.”

“Oh,” Allura paused. “Is he okay? He usually doesn’t drink at parties like this.”

Keith crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m not sure, I think he just needs to sleep it off.”

“Well. I hope he’s okay.”

“Thanks ‘Lura,” Keith said. As an afterthought he added, “I should probably go check on him. I shouldn’t leave him alone for too long.”

“That’s wise. You know how Lance gets. Especially with girls, there’s no way of telling how a little alcohol could affect his decisions. He’s already too much of a flirt as it is.” Allura laughed.

Keith turned to leave, waving goodbye to the couple. He retraced his steps back to where he left Lance. Upon reaching the doorway, he stopped abruptly in a state of panic. Lance was gone. Frantically, he looked around the near vicinity, thinking Lance couldn’t have gotten far in his drunken state.

Keith dashed outside, wondering if Lance might have gone somewhere less stifling. He was in such a panic, he nearly tripped over something. Looking down, he was immediately shocked at the sight of Lance, laying in the yard, staring up blankly, a half-empty bottle of vodka cradled in the crook of his arm.

Realizing he was no longer alone, Lance glanced up at Keith, before grabbing his jacket and yanking him to the ground as well. Keith let out a grunt as he fell to the grass beside Lance.

Pointing up at the sky, Lance murmured a spew of nonsense to himself, although it seemed to make perfect sense to him.

Keith stared at Lance in confusion, “What the hell are you talking about? Let me take you home, you’re drunk.”

“But,” Lance whispered, “Look at the stars. Aren’t they so beautiful tonight Keef?”

“Um… sure.”

“No, really. See that one right there,” Lance pointed up at the sky. “It’s the North Star. It’s the brightest one in the sky.”

“Oh really… do you know any constellations?” Keith asked.

Lance scoffed, “Do I know any constellations! Buddy, I’ve swum through seas of stars.”

“Lance, that literally makes no sense. You are so drunk right now.”

Lance laughed, “Don’t I know it.”

“Okay, so tell me what happened. Why the hell did you think it’d be a good idea to drink yourself into a stupor?”

Lance grimaced and took another swig from the bottle, “Rolo… drink… fucking Nyma…” he mumbled.

Understandably, Keith was a bit concerned with that. As much as he didn’t like Nyma, he didn't exactly feel comfortable with the thought that Rolo tried to force himself on her, in fact he was repulsed by the idea.

“Well, then why are we just sitting here? We should be helping her.” Keith exclaimed, jumping up from the ground.

“Help her? Why would I fucking help her? She was the one who fucking cheated on me with that asshole.” Lance all but shouted, grabbing at Keith’s shirt as he tried to go back inside.

Keith turned sharply towards Lance, “What! She fucking cheated on you? Is that why you’re drinking?”

“Yeah. Couldn’t stand to see her stupid face if I wasn’t smashed.”

Keith lowered himself back onto the ground to sit next to Lance, “Don’t. She’s not worth it. If she cheated on you, she’s definitely an idiot.”

“Thanks, Keef.” Lance replied, leaning into his shoulder.

“So, loverboy, you want to show me some more constellations?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, so there,” Lance stretched his hand towards a star in the far right of the sky. “That’s the start of Orion's belt. Then there’s Ursa Major and Cynus… no Cgnus... no cygus… no... fuck.”

“You mean Cygnus?”

“Yeah,” Lance sighed. “that.”

Keith turned to look at the boy next to him. As Keith stared at him, Lance suddenly blurted out, “You have Leo in your eyes,” He paused and pointed towards his iris. “Lyra and Serpens. Scorpius is right there.” Then Lance let his hand fall back to his side, and was left staring into the other boy’s eyes.

Keith blushed and glanced away from the other boys stare, “Seriously, you’re drunk. Let’s get you home.”

Keith stood up quickly and offered his hand to Lance. Lance glanced back up at the sky for one last look at the constellations before reaching up to grasp Keith’s hand, as the other boy helped him to his feet.

It was not a moment later that Lance realized something was off, Lance stared into Keith’s eyes but they were no longer the monotone grey color they were before. Instead, dark violet was swirling in his irises with flecks of lilac and gold scattered throughout them. They seemed to hold the same shock in them as Lance’s did, but encompassed every emotion Lance had felt in that moment.

Glancing back at the rest of the world, it was all brighter. Even with the night obscuring everything, it still held a new element to it. His eyes ravaged over the new landscape with a newfound vigor, eventually falling back to Keith and their hands still clasped together between them.

Suddenly, Lance pulled Keith closer so there was barely an inch between them, before staring into his eyes for a few more moments. After a minute Lance mumbled, “I was wrong. It’s not just constellations, the whole galaxy’s in your eyes.”

Keith opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a word out, Lance had already fallen against him, eyes closed, breathing evenly.

With a grunt, Keith put the drunk boy back onto the ground before trying to wake him back up.

“Dude, get up! I was afraid this would happen. We really need to get you home.” Keith groaned to himself, fishing for Lance’s keys out of his pocket before tugging his limp body towards the car. Unlocking the door, Keith opened it and gently placed Lance into the passenger seat.

Keith walked back around to the drivers’ side and slid into the front seat. Turning the key in the ignition, Keith started the car and turned towards the sleeping boy.

Keith tried to shake Lance awake once again, “Lance. Lance, where is your house? I have to take you home.”

Lance stirred, but did not wake. _Maybe I can call Hunk,_ Keith thought. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket only to realize it was dead. Keith let out a huff of annoyance and reached over the other boy’s sleeping body to grab Lance’s phone from the pocket of his hoodie. Grasping the cellphone, Keith returned back to his seat.

He immediately realized his dilemma when he turned on Lance’s phone to find an empty password entry staring back at him. Stifling a groan, he once again fell back against his seat. Staring up at the roof of Lance’s car, he debated his few options.

_I could go back to the party to find some of his friends? No, they already left. I could just leave him in his car until morning? No, what the fuck is wrong with me, I can’t just leave my soulmate alone in his car only for him to freak out in the morning. Maybe I could drive around aimlessly until he wakes up? Ugh, but then we’d probably run out of gas and lord knows I’m broke as fuck._

With another grunt of annoyance, Keith rested his forehead against the steering wheel. There really was only one option wasn’t there? With one more glance towards the sleeping boy next to him, Keith smiled at his soulmate. He put the key into the ignition and turned it, hearing as the car revved to life and began the ride back to his house.

As he drove down the familiar streets, it seemed surreal now that it was all in color. Nothing was grey anymore. Keith had never been one to fantasize about meeting his soulmate, but looking at Lance sleeping, he finally understood what Shiro and Adam would always say about finding them - It’s well worth the wait.

The streetlights blurred as he drove, his eyes failing to adjust to the color and lack of light at the same time. Turning onto the corner of his street, Keith glanced over at Lance peacefully asleep. It was then that reality set in that he was going to sneak a boy into his house. His soulmate. The person fate thinks is perfect for him in every way.

With that in mind, as Keith finally pulled into his driveway. It took him several minutes of bartering with himself that everything would be fine in order to get the courage to actually take Lance inside.

There was, however, a slight problem. Shiro. Keith’s guardian and brother was currently fast asleep in bed with his fiance, Adam. Keith had mastered the technique of sneaking back into his house silently, without waking the two soon-to-be-weds. It was another matter altogether to try and drag another person through the quiet halls without detection.

With quite a bit of effort, Keith, by some miracle, maneuvered Lance into the house fairly quickly and silently. Unfortunately, Lance took this as his grand entrance into consciousness - errr sort of. He started wriggling out of Keith’s grip with little effort behind his movements.

However, it was still enough to slip out of Keith's hands and onto the floor with an audible thump. Keith winced at the noise and checked to see if Lance was alright. The boy in question seemed to have passed out again, but otherwise remained uninjured. He let out a sigh of relief and again tried to lift Lance into his arms. After a few minutes of struggling, he gave up and just decided to drag him into his room.

Pulling Lance’s jacket off, Keith scooped Lance again into his arms and placed him under the covers of his bed. Keith walked into the bathroom to change into some pajamas, coming out only to see Lance sleeping soundly.

Keith walked over to the closet in order to grab extra linens to make the couch downstairs but, As he passed the bed, a hand reached out and grasped his arm.

“Stay,” Lance pleaded. “Please.”

To be fair, it took very little convincing for Keith to give in to the request, as it was his freaking soulmate

“Fine.” Keith pulled up the covers and slipped under them. Lance was fairly close to him, with only about six inches separating their bodies. He had seemingly fallen quickly into a deep sleep, snoring quietly. Keith glanced as Lance turned his body towards Keith, effectively closing some of the distance between them.

Four inches.

Keith could hear his heart beating out of his chest. He laid awake in silence listening to his heartbeats in tandem with Lance’s.

Feeling brave, Keith scooted a little closer to the sleeping boy.

Three inches.

Lance subconsciously reached his hand towards Keith and intertwined their fingers. Lance’s breathing regulated once again, falling into a rhythm of shallow breaths.

Two Inches.

Keith pulled closer to Lance so their shoulders touched.

One inch.

Keith’s head was pressed against Lance’s neck and their bodies were perfectly tucked into each other. Listening to Lance’s quiet snores, Keith found his eyes closing and himself being lulled to sleep by the sound of the beating of his heart.


	2. Bleed the Water Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since today is soulmate au day in Klance Month, here's another chapter. Enjoy.

Keith woke up to screaming.

It wasn’t a ‘bloody murder’ scream, _nononono,_ it was more of a ‘what the heck am I doing here’ scream. One second Keith found himself perfectly content with his soulmate sleeping next to him, their arms possessively snaked around each other, but the next, Keith was on the floor and Lance had jumped so far in the air he had almost hit the ceiling.

“Shh… shut up the fuck up,” Keith hissed. “Adam and Shiro ’ll hear you.”

“God, what’s wrong with my head. Fuck, it won’t stop.  How much did I drink?” Lance groaned.

Lance tried to stand up, but found that his headache was not the only problem he faced. “Yeah, not doing that,” he said, his legs collapsing underneath him, and then fell back into the bed. He pulled the covers over his head to shield his eyes from the morning light, and passed off the newfound colors as some side effect of a hangover. It was way too early for that anyway.

Keith started a minute as Lance fell back into deep snores as quickly as he had woken up. Keith glanced around the room and started towards the door. Opening the bedroom door, Keith tiptoed down the hallway. He crept past Shiro and Adams’ bedroom, and peeked in to make sure the two were sound asleep. Keith heaved a sigh of relief when he found them curled around each other, peacefully slumbering.

Keith closed the door to his bedroom and made his way downstairs. Since it had been dark when Keith had first brought Lance into the house, he had a newfound appreciation for Adam’s interior design skills.

The stairs were a deep mahogany, leading into the grand foyer which perfectly complemented the wooded tones with pale blue walls. The sofa in the living room was a muted green with teal and blue pillows, and the rug it sat on was a light brown.

Keith sunk down onto the couch, wondering how he could explain the situation to Shiro and Adam. He stared out at the vibrantly lit yard, swirls of green vines and pink flowers entering his view. It was crazy how different everything seemed in color.

He turned his attention towards his dog Cosmo, who perked up from her spot next to him on the couch. As he reached over to pet her, he now noticed her unique coloring, her two-toned fur looked almost blue, and her eyes shone a vibrant orange.

Once again, Keith was struck with the beauty that the colors added to his world. He found himself smiling for the first time in a while. It really hit him then - he had a _soulmate,_ a soulmate who was currently asleep in his bed, and he had slept next to him all night. He who had stared at him like he contained the whole universe- which apparently he did - in his eyes, at least according to Lance.

After getting up from the couch to feed Cosmo, and grab something to eat for himself, Keith settled back down onto the couch to eat his Honey Nut Cheerios. He turned Netflix on the television, and started to watch a documentary on Mothman he had already seen a million times. It served as a way to distract himself from the reality that was his soulmate. He did have to say though, the documentary was much prettier in color.

The documentary played on in the background as Keith’s mind wandered. What would Lance say when he woke up this next time? Would he want to start a relationship? Would that make them boyfriends?

Other than the mistake that was James Griffin in sophmore year, Keith had never had a boyfriend before. There weren’t many guys to choose from who were out of the closet in Cave Creek, and most who were, were already taken.

Not that Keith had anyone he wanted to date, and except for Lance and James, Keith had never been interested in a guy at school before. He would admit to having crushes but none of them were strong enough to warrant a date.

He hadn’t even processed the fact he liked Lance before coming to the startling realization they were soulmates. Sure, he thought the guy was hot, but he had never let his mind wander due to the fact Lance had always come across as annoying.

But seeing the way he had reacted last night, so in awe of Keith as they lay under the stars, and even seeing them in his eyes-- that was cheesy as fuck but Keith appreciated the sentiment.

Keith sat around for a few more minutes, staring intently at the documentary. When Mothman had just killed a random woman, Keith stood up and after giving one last pet to Cosmo and made his way back to the stairs.

He climbed back up the familiar mahogany staircase slowly and lumbered down the hallway to his room. Turning the knob slightly, Keith opened the door to see Lance still soundly sleeping in his bed. He felt Cosmo brush by him and clamber onto the bed.

 _How will Lance react?_ Keith thought. _I mean, it must be strange to wake up in your soulmates bed the night after you found out you were soulmates. Would he think I took advantage of him?_

The irrational fear slipped out of his mind as Keith stared at his soulmate sleeping soundly, his dog snuggling against him. The scene was so domestic, Keith almost pulled the covers up and climbed back into the bed, before thinking better of it.

 _That would be weird,_ Keith reminded himself, _right?_

Keith’s chest started to ache for some reason. To keep his mind off of his soulmate, Keith walked towards the window and opened the blinds.

Opening the blinds, he watched as lighted flooded into the room, creating a halo around Lance’s head. He looked beautiful like this, his hair a mess on top of his head and his eyes as bright and _blue_ as they were when Keith first saw them in color.

The boy groaned as he woke, before his eyes widened as he let out a shrill screech-spurring Cosmo off the bed and out the door.

“What the fuck man, why are you screaming this time?” Keith asked.

Lance glanced around the room in amazement, “The room… it’s in color. My soulmate. Fuck. Who is my soulmate? Do you know who it is?” Lance leaned up eager in bed, meeting Keith’s eyes. “Is she pretty?”

Keith choked on air. His soulmate. Right, of course not only did he completely forget last night, he thinks his fucking soulmate is a girl. It only made sense, right? He had never heard Lance flirt with any guys, nor had Lance ever had a boyfriend that he was aware of.

Keith had never loved the idea of being tied to one person forever. Maybe because before Shiro took him in, Keith had been abandoned by his parents and then time and time again by whoever the system sent him to next. But last night, Keith found his mind starting to change.

It started when Keith saw Lance’s eyes. So beautiful and blue and in color. Keith found himself drowning in them if he stared into their sapphire blue depths for too long. It was not only his eyes that drew him in, it was everything about him. The way he bit his lip during class when he was frustrated at a problem he was stuck on, or the way he laughed with his whole body, shaking and doubling over as his eyes crinkled with happiness.

There was no way to describe it. Everything he did was so _Lance._ Like he made no apologies for who he was.

Keith had even gotten used to the idea of being fated to someone, maybe even excited by the prospect of it being Lance. But now, Lance’s eyes were different from the night before. They weren’t full of the same wonder and amazement they had in them before, now they only held confusion and a glimmer of hope.

Hope, Keith realized, that wasn’t for him.

Blinking tears back Keith replied, “Um… I--I don’t know. How would I know who your soulmate is?” Keith tried to laugh off the comment but he’d always been a pretty bad actor.

Lance started quizzically at Keith for a moment, “Alrighty, well you have to have seen something. Who was I hanging around with last night?” Lance suddenly winced as he tried to get up once more. “And how much did I drink last night? I feel like I got run over by a truck.” he groaned.

Keith stugged to find the words to respond with, “Uh, no one that I know of. By the time I found… uhhh…. You in the front lawn, you were already wasted. Not sure how much liquor it took to get you like that though.”

“Oh my god, how the fuck am I going to find them now?!” Lance groaned as he put his head in his hands. However, he quickly shot up sitting straight with realization, “Oh my God Nyma! How am I going to tell her about this? Does she already know?” All of a sudden Lance keeled over the side of the bed and vomited a fair amount, before collapsing back on the bed in a heap.

Lance sat for a few minutes in agony before sitting up perfectly straight, with a terrified look in his eyes.

“I need to go, my Mama’s going to kill me if she finds out I didn’t come last night. How did I let this happen? Why didn’t you drive me home?” Lance asked with a glare, his hangover suddenly gone just long enough to yell at Keith.

Keith glared right back, “Right, because I _totally_ know where you live, and it’s just _so easy_ to ask someone when they’re passed out on your shoulder. Believe me when I say, I would much rather you be any place other than here right now.”

Lance raised his hands in defeat with a sigh, “Okay, okay I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.”

Keith's eyes softened at the regretful look in Lance’s eyes. They seemed to plead for forgiveness, and Keith’s anger seemed to subside the longer he stared into them.

Keith glanced away towards the window, “It wasn’t just you who snapped, I’m sorry too.”

They were looking anywhere but at each other, as a string of silence followed their apologies.  Eventually the standstill became too much to bear, Keith was about to break the silence when a knock was heard at his bedroom door.

Before Keith had even taken a step to answer it, the door opened to reveal a familiar face.

Adam, still in his pajamas, shifted his gaze rapidly from Keith to Lance. His eyes finally settling onto Keith in a timely manner.

“So Keith, care to tell me why there’s a boy in your room at 9:00 in the morning?” Adam asked. “And why there’s vomit all over your carpet?”

Keith glanced between the two other boys before saying sheepishly, “Not really.”

“Cool cool cool, you know I was just about to head over to talk with Shiro, I’m sure he’d love to hear about this little development.” Adam sashayed back towards the door but was blocked by Keith.

“There’s no need to tell Shiro. I mean, I can just toss Lance out the window, it’s totally fine. He actually needs to get home, has absolutely no time for breakfast, and he’ll be leaving immediately.” Keith rambled then turned towards Lance with a glare. “Right Lance?”

Lance broke Keith’s gaze to look at Adam, “Actually, breakfast sounds wonderful.”

Keith stared daggers at Lance as the other boy stood there smirking at Keith.

“Well then,” Adam turned to smirk at Keith as well, “Let’s head downstairs, I’m sure Shiro will be dying to meet you.”

As they walked out of the bedroom, Keith walked stiffly with Lance by his side. Lance whispered under his breath to Keith, “Who exactly is Shiro, and should I be scared?”

“Very, he’s my extremely overprotective older brother.” Keith whispered back.

Lance tensed and slowed his pace as he descended the staircase. Both boys seemed to now feel the tension in the air. Keith wondered how Shiro would react to Lance. Probably not well, considering how he reacted to the last guy Keith brought over for a meal. But it should be taken into account, that the guy was James Griffin, who preceded to cheat on Keith for the better part of a month.

Either way, ever since then, Shiro has been a little more protective of his heart.

When they entered the kitchen, Shiro was busy at work, ingredients splattered across the counters as he attempted to follow the recipes laid out before him.

Adam came up behind his fiance and draped his arms around his neck, causing Shiro to drop the spoon he was holding.

“Gahh,” Shiro let out a shriek as the mixture was flung onto his apron as well as Adam’s face.

Adam took a tentative taste of whatever Shiro had made this time. His face pulled into a tight grimace at the flavor, and patted Shiro on the cheek.

“You know what, You tried. Now go meet our guest and I’ll fix this monstrosity.”

Shiro leaned in a kissed Adam on the lips, “I love you.”

“I know.” Adam responded cheekily.

Shiro turned towards Keith and then finally realized who Adam had been referring to. He looked Lance up and down, and then turned to Adam, his face quizzical.

“Why don’t you say hello to the boy who spent the night,” he said. “in Keith’s bed.”

“Well,” Shiro pulled off his frilly pink apron, before turning back towards Lance with cold eyes. “Keith, why don’t you go set the table? I would like to have a little chat with your friend here.”

Lance noticeably paled, as he was led away into the living area,

Keith helplessly shot a look of concern at Lance, before turning back to the task Shiro gave him, only to be stopped by a stern looking Adam.

“I think we need to talk, Keith.”

“What about?” Keith answered innocently.

“Oh you know what I mean,” Adam’s stern gaze turned into one of pure curiosity, “I want to know why I woke up to screaming.”

“It was an accident, there was a--” Keith fumbled for the right words to use. “Spider, in my bedroom, and Lance saw it and freaked out this morning.”

“Riiiiight, and I’m Beyonce” Adam retorted. “Look, I get that this is awkward for you, but you can tell me anything. I may not be your brother, but I’m a part of your family now, and as such, I feel like I should warn you about the dangers of-.”

“Nope! Stopping you there. I really _really_ don’t want to hear the end of that sentence if it’s going where I think it is-”

“Oh, it one hundred percent was,” Adam cut in.

“Then believe me when I say that whatever you’re thinking is wrong.”

“And believe me when I say, _you’re_ lying.”

“Nothing happened, Honestly,” Keith answered,  growing more irritated, “You want the story? He got drunk, passed out, and I ran out of options. This wasn’t intentional, and whatever you’re thinking, it’s wrong.”

“Oh, come on. Do you really expect me to believe that? Need I remind you that your acting skills are subpar at best, you are the worst liar I have ever seen.”

“But I wasn’t lying!” Keith insisted, “ Really, that’s all there is to it!”

Adam narrowed his eyes, but he finally let up. “Alright, alright, I’ll believe you.”

Keith’s eyebrows shot up, surprised. “Really? That’s all it took?”

“No you idiot, and your response just further proves my theory true! Something did happen last night!”

Keith stepped back, trying to come up with an excuse, when he was luckily saved from having to answer that question. Unluckily, the reason being that Lance and Shiro had finished talking, and were now watching the exchange, holding back laughter.

 _Great,_ Keith thought, _This is just great._

 

* * *

 

Lance found himself promptly seated down onto the couch, where Keith’s brother continued to stare at him accusingly across the coffee table between them. Shiro was insanely intimidating, with his prosthetic arm and scar across the bridge of his nose. He looked like he was straight out of an anime when he wasn’t wearing that ridiculous Apron. The only thing that comforted Lance, was the dog now cuddled up next to him.

Shiro, noticing the dog’s affinity for Lance, commented, “His name’s Cosmo,” with a smile.

Lance shoulders immediately lost a bit of the tension he held there, calming down a bit - Shiro seemed pretty harmless after all. That was, however, before Keith’s brother slammed his hands down on the table between them, causing the tension in his body to once again rise.

“So, let’s get to know each other a bit, shall we? My name is Takashi Shirogane, but my friends call me Shiro, you however can call me Mr. Shirogane, or Sir, if you prefer. Now, how about you tell me your name.”

Lance hesitated, clearly uncomfortable in the situation, before responding, “Um, my name is um it’s Lance, Sir. I meant Lance comma sir, my last name isn’t sir, it’s Mcclain, I was referring to you as sir, sir.”

“So Mr. McClain, is it? How do you know Keith?” Shiro asked.

“We go to school together sir, we had a couple classes together last year, and this year. We hang out with the same people… run in the same circle. So yeah. We know each other.” Lance rambled, continuing to pet Cosmo in an attempt to calm himself.

Shiro narrowed his eyes, “From what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound like you and Keith are super close, which leads me to ask, why exactly were you found in his room this morning?”

“Keith was just being a great friend last night. I needed a place to crash and he let me sleep here. Yeah, we might not be close friends, but he’s a solid dude.” Lance nodded to himself.

Shiro looked content with that answer but he still was not through with his own interrogation.

“Now then,” Shiro slammed his hands down on the table in front of Lance, startling him, “What exactly are your intentions with Keith? Are you really just friends, or is it something more, Mr. McClain?”

“Oh, oh no, we’re not together,” Lance stammered, “ not that I wouldn’t, but like, no no that doesn’t matter, he’s just, um, friend, he’s a friend, a really really really good friend, yeah.” Nervous laughter followed his statement, as he anxiously bounced his leg.

Shiro let out a laugh, “God. I’m just messing with you. Now let’s go eat.”

Shiro seemed much less intimidating now that he wasn’t glaring down at Lance like he ran over a puppy. Even with the scar along the bridge of his nose and prosthetic arm, his gaze did not hold the same amount of judgement as before.

Lance calmed as Shiro seemed to warm up to him. Shiro stood up from the chair across from him, and nodded for Lance to follow. Lance rose from the couch he was sitting on and followed Shiro through the doorway.

Shiro led him back through the kitchen into another room, where Adam and Keith were seated at the dining room table, talking.

“--expect me to believe that? Need I remind you that your acting skills are subpar at best, you are the worst liar I have ever seen.” Adam told Keith.

Keith glared at the other man, “But I wasn’t lying! Really, that’s all there is to it!”

Lance stared at the two interacting, before watching as Adam smiled coyly, “Alright, alright, I’ll believe you.”

Keith’s eyebrows shot up, surprised. “Really? That’s all it took?”

“No you idiot, and your response just further proves my theory true! Something did happen last night!”

Lance inadvertently let out a laugh at Adam’s response. Adam and Keith, who seemingly, finally noticed Lance and Shiro had returned from the living room. Keith turned a pretty shade of red, for what, Lance had no idea. The color quickly faded from his face, before he glared downwards at the silverware. Adam started cracking up alongside Lance at his fiance's  brother, while Shiro walked to him and tried to playfully punch his fiance in the shoulder for making fun of his brother’s misfortune. As his fist got closer to Adam, he reached out and grabbed Adam’s hand, pulling it so their fingers were intertwined. At that moment, Shiro’s action seemed to lose momentum and he relaxed into his fiance's embrace.

As Lance stared at the domestic couple, he wondered if that would be like with his soulmate. If he found them, that is. _How could I be that stupid? How the fuck did I get that drunk last night?_ Lance berated himself.

He thought about whether or not he would ever find them again. The superstition surrounding soulmates says that once you find them once, that’s it. That’s the reality Lance was most afraid of, the idea that his one chance to meet his soulmate was taken from him.

But he could not dwell on that idea, especially when Shiro, Adam, and Keith were all staring at him curiously.

Lance blushed at the attention, “Uhh.. sorry for spacing out.” he said sheepishly.

Shiro smiled, “It’s fine Lance. Now come eat, Adam said brunch is almost done.”

“Okay, thank you so much. Food sounds fantastic.” Lance made his way towards the dining room table, and sat down in the chair next to Keith.

Small chatter filled the room. Shiro and Keith were talking with soft smiles, Shiro telling dumb jokes while Keith refused to let himself smile. The trust between the two brothers was homey, almost even fatherly to Lance, and he could tell Shiro had cared for Keith  the same way Lance had cared for Luis and Rachel.

Standing up from the table, Adam walked out of the dining room towards the kitchen, and Shiro stood up to follow him. Adam had tried to shoo him away from the kitchen, probably to save the breakfast from Shiro’s disastrous cooking skills.

Lance stared awkwardly out of the corner of his eye at Keith, both refusing to speak first. The awkward tension only broke when Adam and Shiro walked back into the room talking loudly.

“You know what I love?” Adam shouted. “ _Conversation_. The means of communication with people is a necessity of life. If not, you turn into a overripe avocado.”

“Like Keith.” Shiro added and the two fiances shared a laugh at Keith’s expense.

Keith glared, “I can’t believe you just compared me to an overripe avocado. Your insults are just getting worse and--”.

“Actually, I think it’s a pretty accurate description. You’re all mushy and green, and…” he paused. “Honestly I have no idea what I’m saying.”  

“It’s like you’re already a part of the family.” Adam laughed.

Both Keith and Lance flushed at Adam’s comment, growing redder by the minute. Shiro laughed lightheartedly and looked up at Adam.

“Come my prince.” Adam started. “You can help bring out the dishes.”

Shiro got up to follow his fiance into the kitchen, leaving the other two boys once again in silence.

“Soooo, I am so grateful for everything that you did for me last night and this morning, but I wasn’t lying before, my mom’s probably freaking out right now. Not to mention, there’s the whole soulmate debacle -  got to get started on that pronto.”

Lance slid out of his seat and made a break for the door. As much as he enjoyed Keith and his family’s company, it was a built overwhelming, even without the hangover; but on top of that, Lance had priorities. Priorities that included finding the love of his life.

Lance may have been knocked off course with the strange occurances of the morning, but he’d be damned if that put a dent into his search. So what Keith doesn’t know anything, surely at least _one_ of his friends had heard something.

Lance had just made up his mind about who to question next, when he felt a tug at the back of his shirt right as he reached the door.

As he grabbed the handle Keith said, “Come on. Shiro’s gonna kill me if I let you leave without breakfast.”

Lance turned to face Keith, only to find the other boy closer than anticipated. His eyes were a clear violet in the morning light, and Lance found himself staring into them longer than necessary. They almost looked like a galaxy, swirls of purple and lilac and violet, with flashes of silver in them like stars. As the two stared at each other, neither boy seemed to glance away as if it were a contest.

“Where do you think you’re going mister? Adam just finished cooking breakfast!” Lance jumped away from Keith and looked up to see Shiro smiling, his eyes crinkling a bit as he looked at Lance expectantly. “He somehow managed to turn my mess into crepes, so you’d be missing out on a lot - Adam is a culinary genius.”

Lance sheepishly glanced at the door before looking back at Keith, then Shiro, and finally relented.

“Fine, but I do really have to go soon. Ten minutes, that’s it.”

Shiro beamed and dragged them back to where the table was. Keith took his original seat and stared absently out the window, feigning indifference to the entire situation. Lance plopped down onto the seat across from Keith while they waited for Adam to appear with the delicacies.

When he finally emerged from the kitchen, Adam placed a covered tray of food onto the table, the clink echoing throughout the room; before dramatically revealing what lay beneath the cover.

“Bon appetit, mes amis.” He said with a flourish.

“I didn’t know you could speak French!” Shiro gushed.

“I don’t, I just heard that on the cooking channel, I have no clue what it means!” Adam smiled gleefully.

Meanwhile, Lance’s mouth watered staring down at what truly was a culinary masterpiece. Adam had created a beautiful arrangement of the thin crepes. Lance reached for the one overflowing with whip cream and chocolate chips, but his hand was slapped away as Keith grabbed it first.

Lance looked back up at Keith, who smirked in response, before he began eating with such verocity, Lance felt threatened. Of course, seeing as it was a challenge, Lance changed course and nabbed a crepe filled with strawberries and drizzled with chocolate syrup and powdered sugar. He immediately chowed down on the dessert ravenously, while Keith seemed to do the same.

Adam and Shiro were shared an amused glance at the two boys who were still scarfing down crepes. Shiro reached over the table and intertwined their fingers together, rubbing small circles on the inside of Adam’s wrist.

“So Lance,” Adam started and watched as Lance swallowed the last of his crepe with an audible gulp, “You said you and Keith go to school together?”

Lance glanced at Keith before responding, “Yeah, sir. We have English and Physics together.”

“You don’t have to call me sir, Adam will be fine.” Adam said with a smile.

“Okay…. Thank you, sir--- I mean Adam.” Lance stuttered.

“So Keith, how exactly did Lance end up sleeping over last night?” Shiro asked with a smirk.

Keith blushed, “I told Adam before. Nothing happened. Just because I’m gay, doesn’t mean every boy I have over is someone I’m dating.”

Lance choked on his water, “Wait. You’re gay?”

“Yeah? Got a problem with it?” Keith stared at him challengingly, as though daring him to say something.

Lance stopped his coughing fit, “Of course not. I just didn’t know.”

At the admittance, Lance felt his heart flutter at the prospect that Keith was gay. Before he could dwell on the idea too long, Lance shook the thought out of his head, and instead focused at the task at hand: finding his soulmate.

Adam and Shiro shared another glance, and Lance found himself wondering what they were thinking. Keith, though less aggressively, was still glaring out the window in agitation. Lance reaches his hand and snaps his fingers in front of Keith’s face.

Keith shaked out of his trance, pulled back once again into cold reality, “What the fuck Lance?”

“Language!” Shiro glared at Keith as Adam patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“What?” Keith groaned.

“Dude. You were out of it for a while there.”

“Whatever.” _Well that was the end of that conversation,_ Lance thought. Although the awkward tension grew between Lance and Keith, Adam and Shiro continued on like nothing had happened between the two.

As they continued to joke around with fond smiles on their faces, it was clear to Lance the two had been together for quite a long time. He was so close to finding what they had, only if he could find out who his soulmate was.

Soon enough breakfast ended, and Lance was ushered by Shiro towards the door. Before he could get to the door, Lance turned to see Keith still sulking, now on the couch. Nodding at Shiro, Lance made his way to sit next to Keith on the couch.

Lance extended his hand so his palm was resting on the other boy’s shoulder, “You know I didn’t mean anything by it.” Lance started.

Keith turned to him sharply, “What?”

“The gay thing. I really don’t care. I mean… I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.” Lance glanced at Keith out of the corner of his eye, who was looked down abashed, red spreading across his cheeks.

“Oh.” Keith looked surprised. “I didn’t think you meant anything by it. I just, uhh, a lot of people are uncomfortable with my sexuality and I get defensive. I should’ve known you wouldn’t think any less of me.”

Lance smiled at Keith, and the other boy grinned back. The bright smile on his face radiated warmth, and Lance felt himself melting. The two stared at each other for a moment, matching smiles adorning their faces. The spell was only broken when Adam and Shiro walked into the room, and Adam coughed loudly to get their attention.

Lance nearly jumped off the couch at Adam’s voice.

“Okay. Well… this was great. Thank for the food and everything, but I really gotta go.” Lance said as he got off the couch.

Adam and Shiro nodded, “It was nice meeting you Lance. We’d love to have you over again for dinner.”

“Thanks guys, thank you so much for letting me stay. I’ll see you at school Keith.”

“Yeah, Umm, let me grab your car keys so you can get home.” Keith stood from the couch and made his way towards the door.

Lance watched as Keith reached into a basket and pulled out Lance’s car keys. Turning towards him, Keith wordlessly offered the keys to the other boy. Lance took them and flashed Keith a smile. “Thanks Mullet.”

Keith grimaced at the nicknamed but smiled nonetheless, “No problem. I’ll see you later.”

With that, Lance opened the door to the house and stepped out into the fresh spring air. With one last glance towards the door, Lance turned his head and continued towards his car. He unlocked it and sat down in the front seat turning the ignition.

The car beeped to life and showed the time, flashing 11:56.

 _Fuck. My mom’s going to kill me._ Lance thought. He pulled out of the driveway and started down the road towards his house, silently cursing himself for staying so long. _But hey, you really couldn’t blame me, it was Keith who was at fault here_ . _He’s the one who didn’t take me home, and instead let me sleep next to him in his bed all night. But it’s not like he knew where I lived. It was actually kinda sweet of him to take me home instead of leaving me at Lotor’s. Fuck. God No. I shouldn’t be thinking about how sweet Keith was this morning, or considerable he was last night, the guy had a mullet for fuck’s sake. He was terrible. A terrible, horrible, guy no matter how fucking hot he is. Ahh… Fuck… Keith was hot and he doesn’t have a terrible personality._

Lance was totally fucked.

 


	3. Scarf Trick

The second he opened the door, he already knew he was in trouble.

The air felt tense and he could not hear the usual happy chatter of the household.

Taking a deep breath, Lance walked into the house, “Mamá? Estoy en casa, adonde estas?”

Lance heard a rustle coming from the kitchen, _please don’t be mad,_ he thought.

“Mijo, You’re back!” Mrs. McClain ran forward and threw her arms around her son before pulling back glaring, “¿Now, donde as estado toda la noche?”

Lance swallowed as his mother began to berate him,“Como te atreves no llegar a casa, no pude pegar el ojo de tanto preocupación. Mande a Verónica y Luis para que fueran a buscarte. Llame a los padres de Hunk y Pidge, y me dijeron que no sabían adónde estabas. No lo puedo creer, yo te enseñe mejor que esto. Tu obligación es llamarme si no vas a llegar a casa, y en vez de eso yo estuve despierta todo la noche preocupada por ti, esperando, y con fe, de que tu---”

“I met my la alma gemela,” Lance sighed.

“Your soulmate?” Mrs. McClain asked as her demeanor shifted rapidly. “How exciting! You’ll have to invite them over for dinner soon. She can meet the entire family, Abuelita, cousin José, Mariana and the babies, uncle Fes--”

“Nononono, inviting them over is really not possible. They--um, they, they’re very… shy. And this...development is... new and I don’t think it’d be the best time for them to come over for family dinner.”

“So... what’s her name?” Mrs. McClain asked her eyes inquiry.

Lance visibly flinched at the question, averting his eyes from his mother’s ecstatic expression. “Name, right.. Haa. They do indeed have a name.” His eyes frantically darted around the room, looking for something to help him. Upon finding nothing, Lance decided to change his tactics.

“You know what,” Lance turned to face his mother more determined. “It’s a guy.”

“Who’s a guy?” Mrs. McClain’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“My... soulmate. He’s a guy.” Lance looked away from his mother, before steadying his gaze back at her.

Surprise washed over Mrs. McClain’s features, “Oh... That’s cool. You should invite.. Urm.. him to dinner.”

“Yeah. I’m sure he would love that.” Lance replied before hightailing it outta there.

He raced up the stairs quickly, and when he finally closed his door behind him, he let out a breath of relief. As he sagged with his back against the door, he put his head in his hands and sat for a moment. It was then that he realized he wasn’t alone. His snapped up as he saw Rachel, Luis, and Veronica emerged from their various hiding places. Rachel was the first to speak as they moved to sit on his bed.

“I know you might be mad at us, but we overheard the conversation, and we’re just so happy for you!” Rachel’s exuberance was a relief from the tension he had felt earlier, but he still felt guilty about leading them on.

Lance chuckled at his little sister, before answering, “Exactly how much of that conversation did you hear?”

“Oh, not that much,just the beginn-”

“We heard the whole thing,” Veronica deadpanned.

“Well, that, that’s just great.” Lance murmured against his hand.

“You know, for someone who just met their soulmate, you don’t seem all that happy.” Luis commented.

Lance knew where this conversation would end, he knew what would happen, but he still didn’t want to admit it.

It was Veronica who ended up speaking up, “Isn’t it obvious, it was just a ploy to get out of being in trouble. He really wasn't all that convincing.”

Rachel gawked at Veronica’s accusation, “How could you say that?! Lance would never lie about meeting his soulmate, it’s all he’s ever wanted, and now he’s found it!”

Lance interrupted his sister before she got too carried away, “I didn’t lie about meeting them,” he sighed. “But that’s where the truth ends.”

Rachel's face dropped at the information. “But why would you lie? Don’t you want us to meet them?”

Lance took another deep breath in before continuing, “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t.” He explained, “I don’t actually know who they are, just that we met yesterday at the party I went to.”

Luis shot up off the bed and stalked towards Lance.

“Bullshit, there’s no way that you wouldn’t know who they are. Even if you lost them at the party, there’s no way that you didn’t canvas everyone there to find them.”

Lance winced, “I, umm.. god you think I don’t know that? I wish that I could even remember half that night.”

“You don’t remember?” Luis demanded.

Lance gulped, “Like you never got drunk at a party in highschool, Luis. So yeah...shitty timing with finding them. I think I passed out at the party after I met them and woke up at a friend of mine’s with everything in color.”

“So why did you tell Mama your soulmate was a guy if you don’t know who it is?” Rachel asked timidly.

“I don’t know why I did it! I just got _so_ angry. She and Papa have been so weird since I came out to them. I thought if they think my soulmate was a guy, they’d realize that me liking guys is a part of me, not just some phase. Ya know?”

Veronic wrapped an arm around Lance’s shoulder, “Yeah. They’ll come around eventually. But in the meantime, you need to figure out who your soulmate is.” She paused to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, “Only you would get so drunk you can’t remember who your soulmate is.”

Lance shoved his sister off the bed, “Oh fuck off.” As she fell, Veronica reached out and grasped Lance’s wrist and pulled him off the bed with her.

They tumbled to the ground in a laughing mess. Somehow Rachel and Luis ended on the ground too, all four siblings laying in a dog pile on the floor giggling.

Lance smiled as his siblings tackled him into a bear hug.

He still felt sick about the whole soulmate situation and lying to his mother about it, but at least he could be honest to his siblings.

 

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as Lance left, Keith’s facade crumbled. Attempting to hide it from Shiro and Adam, he decided to lock himself up in his room for an undisclosed amount of time. Unfortunately, he forgot to account for the fact that this would actually be even more suspicious to his brother and fiance.

“Keith,” Shiro pestered, “When exactly do you plan on coming out of there.” At this point, he had been holed up for around an hour and a half, refusing to come out.

“I already came out to you Shiro.” Keith responded.

“Ha...gay jokes.” Adam cackled.

Keith could hear the sound of Shiro smacked Adam, who in return let out a skittish yelp, “Shiro!”

“And as fun as that conversation was Keith, one: you’re not in a closet--” (“I could be”) “--and two, you know how Adam gets. One gay joke and he won’t stop.”

Keith groaned, “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me. I was once an angsty emo teenage boy too. And I too, was pining over a seemingly straight boy--”

“I’m not pining over Lance!”

“--Sure you aren’t. Anyway, I spent two whole years of highschool pining over him before I finally took him home--” (“Ew. Gross.”) “And we have been together ever since.”

Adam interjected, “Takashi, we met in college.”

“I know that honey. I was _talking_ about _Cosmo_.” Shiro said condescendingly.

Keith snorted at the exchange. Shiro, who had evidently heard it took it as a good sign to continue their conversation from before.

“As I was saying, it’s perfectly normal for a teenage boy to develop feelings for another--”

“No, god no. Please stop.” Keith let out a groan. “We are NOT having ‘the talk’ again. Once was enough.”

Adam laughed, “Fine Keithy Cat, I’ll spare the details on how your brother wooed ne and I fell for him. Oh, Abs of Glory. How I do love to--”

“Nope. Not happening Adam. Say another word about my brothers abs and I’ll use you as bait to catch bigfoot.” Keith retorted.

“Oooh, so scary. Abs of Glory, protect me.”

Shiro laughed, “You’re on your own Adam.”

“Nooo. Abs of Glory! Hunky Bunches of Oats! Shiro! Takashi! My love! Don’t walk away from me!” Adam voice grew fainter as he followed Shiro’s retreating footsteps down the hall.

Keith breathed a sigh of relief after he was sure they had left. He had narrowly avoided telling Shiro about the Soulmate situation (SMS for short).

Keith didn’t know what to do. Shiro already thought he _liked_ Lance, what were they going to do when he found out the two of them were _soulmates_.

Keith let out another groan as he slinked onto the floor. Laying on the tattered carpet, he stared up at the fan, letting himself get lost in the hypnotic rhythm of the fan above him.

He didn’t know how long he stared at it, watching as its circular movements drifted his mind. He thought about Adam and Shiro and how their relationship was seemingly perfect and how much he longed for that to feel something like that.

Unfortunately, Keith’s soulmate was decidedly uninterested in him. And straight. Sadly.

How fucked up can the universe can be? To pair Keith, the gayest gay to ever gay, with Lance McClain, the straightest fuckboy ever.

And the way Lance had smiled at him before he left. The way his blue eyes looked at him. That fucker. How dare he make Keith get... _feelings. Ugh._ Keith shuddered at the thought.

 _I need to get out,_ he thought.

In a burst of impulsiveness, Keith decided to make a run for it. By jumping out the window. Granted it wasn’t his _best_ idea, but he still didn’t turn back around after he rolled out the window, straddled his motorcycle and started to drive.

He maneuvered down the streets, weaving in and out of traffic. Keith didn’t know where he was going, only registering the cool air pressed against his skin.

He wound up at the toll bridge. There once was water under it, now devoid and only a chasm. Keith stood at the edge, his hands on the rickety railings.

It was known to the public as ‘the suicide bridge’.

And that’s how Keith had originally found himself there. It was three years ago on a cool night. He could feel himself drowning. He’d been feeling that way for months. With every single step he took, and every single conversation he had with someone. He could feel himself sinking further and further into the abyss of his own mind. Floating in ice cold water, without any hope of being saved. He didn’t want to be saved. He thought it’d be better this way. Without him. Adam and Shiro wouldn’t have to take care of him. He wouldn’t have to worry about disappointing them.

He thought no one would miss him.

He’d be gone.

Now, Keith came to clear his mind.

Standing in the same spot as he had years ago, he looked out into the distance, a constant stream of thoughts running through his mind. He closed his eyes as he felt the slight breeze flow through his hair, grounding him. When he opened them, unlike that night three years ago, Keith did not want to jump.

He didn’t want to end it all.

Instead, he found the scenery calming. Nature was always unpredictable, and oddly enough, he found the uncertainty of it all comforting.

It was incredibly easy to clear his mind while he was here, even easier to forget his troubles. When he was out on the bridge, it was like he was alone in the world. You would think that would be ominous, but no, it’s actually pretty clarifying to him.

His revelry was broken by the piercing sound of his phone ringing.

_Pigeon calling..._

Keith picked up the phone and placed it against his ear.

“Yes. Gremlin?” Keith asked as soon as he answered.

He could hear Pidge huff a laugh through the phone, “Where are you, Space Boy?”

“Nowhere.” Keith responded. Pidge would kill him if they found out he was at the ‘Suicide Bridge’.

“You wanna come over? I found a new documentary on Netflix that we have to watch?” Pidge asked.

“What conspiracy this time?” Keith asked with interest.

The reply came with a huff, “Mothman. Duh.”

Keith took one last glance at the view before bringing his ear back to the phone, “I’ll be there in five.”

Pidge laughed, “I already have it queued up,” they added as an afterthought, “Wait. You live way more than five minutes away. Where exactly are you?”

“Uhh,” Keith relplied intelligently. “See you in a few. Gotta go byeee.”

Hanging up the phone, Keith broke into a grin as he walked back across the bridge towards the main road. The gravel turned into pavement under his feet, and the forest disappeared into city lights and buildings.

Keith made his way back to his motorcycle, a black sheep in a parking lot full of toyotas.

He jumped on his bike and sped down the road towards Pidge’s house.

He rounded the corner into her neighborhood, and took in all of the fake grass and perfectly potted trees.

Pidge lived in a nice neighborhood, with a large house. Their family was decently wealthy with Pidge’s father, Samuel Holt, being a renowned astrophysicist. He coded many of the recent rocket launches into space.

Pulling into the Holt’s driveway, Keith parked. He dismounted the bike and started walked to the front door.

He didn’t bother to knock.

He never did. Neither did Pidge when they came over, both perfectly content with walking in unannounced and making their way into each other’s room.

Upon entering, Keith descended the stairs to the basement where Pidge was already waiting on the couch, the documentary paused at the beginning, “Space Boy!” Pidge shouted enthusiastically.

Keith hopped over the back and landed on the couch with a thud. Pidge grinned and maneuvered themself so their feet were comfortably placed over Keith's legs.  

Keith sighed, “Gremlin. We talked about this. Personal Space.”

“Yes we did talk about this, Space Boy. Or you talked and I ignored,” they sassed.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“Debatable,” Keith scoffed.

Pidge pressed play on the documentary and sunk into the couch. Keith plopped down beside them, and they began their comfortable silence filled only by the screaming civilians on the tv.

  


* * *

 

 

After an awkward conversation with his father and mother, Lance left the house as quickly as he could.

He called Hunk five minutes after he left to let him know he was on his way over. When he finally reached the Garett Residence, Lance barged in, rounding the stairs up to Hunk’s room.

He threw the door open, before immediately going on a tangent.

“I cannot believe you left me alone last night. I woke up in Keith’s house. His bed. Yes. Keith Kogane. My Rival. And he was nice...Weirdly nice. Anyway, I tried to leave but they made me eat with them.” Lance added. “AlsoImayhaveforgottomentionifoundmysoulmatelastnighthahahaha.”

Hunk stared, “Wait what?”

Lance took a deep breath, “I found my soulmate last night--”

“Oh. My. god. Oh my god. It’s Keith isn’t it? Keith is your soulmate! I always knew you had a thing for him.”

Lance choked, “Keith? Me? Nonononono. I mean it’s not like i’d, ummm, I mean, I’d never, I’d never have a thing for Keith. Keith Kogane. No nada never. Yeah. Definitely. Not Keith.”

“Wait so if it’s not Keith, which we won’t talk about though you and I both know you had a thing for him, then who is it?” Hunk asked.

“That’s the thing, man. I have no fucking clue. I was so wasted last night, that I woke up this morning with everything in color, but no memory of who my soulmate is. ”Lance explains. “But, don’t you worry, Lancey-Lance has it all covered. You my friend will aid me in my quest to find my one true love.”

“So it’s not Keith?” Hunk said, still processing the information.

“No, come on. Keep up.”

Lance grabbed Hunk and yanked him out of bed.

“There’s no time like the present, Now you need to help me find _every single person_ at that party.”

Hunk groaned, “Just the way I planned on spending my weekend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations: 
> 
> “Como te atreves no llegar a casa, no pude pegar el ojo de tanto preocupación. Mande a Verónica y Luis para que fueran a buscarte. Llame a los padres de Hunk y Pidge, y me dijeron que no sabían adónde estabas. No lo puedo creer, yo te enseñe mejor que esto. Tu obligación es llamarme si no vas a llegar a casa, y en vez de eso yo estuve despierta todo la noche preocupada por ti, esperando, y con fe, de que tu---”
> 
> “How dare you not come home, I was worried sick. I sent Veronica and Luis looking all over for you. I called Hunk and Pidge’s parents, and they told me they had no idea where you were. I can’t believe this, I raised you better than this. You’re supposed to call me if your not coming home and instead I was up all night worried about you, waiting, hoping, you would come---”
> 
> “¿Now, donde as estado toda la noche?”
> 
> “Now, where have you been all night?”


	4. Until We Feel Alright

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The door swung open to reveal Lotor, “What the hell? It is six o’clock in the morning. Why are you banging on my door?” He groaned.

“We need a detailed guest list of every single person who was at your party.” Lance demanded, his eyes raging with determination.

“Once again I repeat, what the hell?” Lotor spat. “It is six in the fucking morning, on a Sunday no less. I have to be at church.”

Lance laughed, “You don’t go to church.”

“I could. You don’t know me, I could be a very devout christian for all you know.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “And I totally didn’t see you chugging a shit ton of beer friday night.”

Lotor narrowed his eyes, “Nothing you can prove.” As an afterthought he added, “unless you check the security tapes.”

Lance’s eyes widened and a chaotic grin spread across his face, “There are security tapes?!”

Lotor groaned loudly. He had really dug himself an early grave this time.

“Fine. But I better not regret this. Come along.” Lotor pulled the door open further and gestured to the inside.

Lance and Hunk entered the house.

Lance could remember walking into the house and seeing Hunk and Nyma, but the rest of the night was a blur. He wondered if he should call her and explain the whole soulmate situation to let her down easy. He had never broken up with someone before, how could he tell Nyma that he does not want to be with her anymore.

They worked, but they weren’t _soulmates_.

And afterall, that’s all he ever wanted in life. Someone to share it with. A soulmate. If only he knew who it was. He always thought it would be easy to find them, that he would just look at them and know even before they touched that they were the one. That’s how it had happened with the rest of his family, or it least seemed like it.

His brother, Luis and Lisa, met in grade school. They remained best friends until deciding to date in high school. At her college graduation, Luis knelt down and proposed to her. They got married two years after, then settled down and had two kids, Nadia and Sylvio.

Marco met his soulmate at a coffee shop the summer after highschool, her the barista and their worlds becoming colorful over the counter as she passed him his usual.

Rachel, who is two years younger, met her soulmate, her freshman year of highschool. Viktor was an exchange student from Russia, who was spending the year in Cave Creek, staying with one of Rachel’s friends family for the rest of freshman year. The language barrier was hard, his english shotty at best, but the rest of his family found that inconvenience endearing. Lance did too.

But he always thought he would have a meeting equally cute with his soulmate, not the mess of things Lance had found himself accustomed to. His parents would always tell him you’ll meet her when your ready. And Lance had always mentally corrected them, but he never could outloud. He watched his family accept his sibling’s soulmates time after time, and he wondered if they would do the same if his soulmate turned out to be a guy.

He and Veronica were the only ones left without their soulmates, dreaming of the day they would finally find their one true love. And he was about to find his.

Finally, Lotor had led them into the back room, to where a series of computer monitors, each displaying a different room. He casually sat down at the swivel chair in front of the monitors, easily typing in a password to gain access to the feeds.

“Welcome to operation central,” He said with a sly grin. “Now, what exactly do you expect to find on these tapes?”

Hunk started, “Oh. Just his--” Lance elbowed Hunk who replied with a shrill shriek, “Uhh...uh… my wallet. I left it here at the party. On Friday. Yes, that party on Friday. Where I lost my wallet.” He stammered, sending what he hoped looked like a genuine smile towards Lotor, but was probably was more of a creepy forced grin.

“Fine. You have two hours. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.” Lotor said as he retreated back into the hallway.

The door shut with a thump, leaving Hunk and Lance alone to comb through the hours of footage.

“Welp, no time like the present! Let’s get to finding that soulmate of yours.” Hunk teased.

Lance blushed, “I hope so. Now you can go through the feed from the kitchen, basement, and the foyer. I’ll start with the other rooms.”

As the two boys started to look their respective tapes in silence, Hunk quietly asked, “So, how are you going to tell Nyma about this? I mean she’s your girlfriend, but what about after you find your soulmate?”

“I don’t know man. We knew going in that this relationship had a time limit, and I like her but I don’t _like her_ that much, ya know? She’s great and everything but I can’t see a future with her.” Lance rambled.

“I get that. Now that you know your soulmate is out there, you gotta tell her. She doesn’t deserve to be strung along.” Hunk replied.

Lance sighed, “I was thinking about it before, maybe I could bring her candy or something to soften the blow. No matter what, I gotta do it in person - I don’t want to be a total asshole.”

“Well, at least you’re planning on telling her. Some people would just start dating their soulmate with no heads up to their previous significant other.”

“You know I would never do that. I might not be in love with her or anything, but I’m still a decent human being. Sure, we’re just having some fun, but I still care about her. You can’t just not feel emotions towards someone if you spend a lot of time with them. Now that there’s someone else, even though I don’t know who, I just can’t stop thinking about them. It’s like I don’t even know who they are, but I think I might already love them. I don’t know is that crazy?” Lance looked over to Hunk but he was slumped into his seat, staring guiltily at the screen in front of him. “Hunk? You okay over there?”

Hunk slowly raised his eyes till they met Lance’s, “You might want to come see this buddy.” Lance slid his chair towards where Hunk was seated. Hunk rewinded the tape to the beginning.

His eyes fell as he watched the scene play out, Nyma entering the kitchen, following Rolo, before they started making out with him on the counter. Lance blinked away tears. Hunk looked at Lance in pity, his mouth descending into frown the longer he looked at him.

Lance choked on air, trying to force himself to calm down. The room began closing in on him, and he curled into himself as if to hide away. He sunk into the floor and pulled his knees closer to his chest. Hunk kneeled down to comfort him, but as soon as he placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder, the other boy started thrashing and clawing until Hunk let his hand fall back. “What can I do for you? What do you need?” Hunk asked slowly, thinking if he said the wrong think it could send Lance spiraling downwards.

Lance wheezed. He couldn’t breathe and the harder he tried to, the more it hurt. It felt like there was water in his lungs, slowly drowning him as he choked on the salt water. Hunk came closer, and the closer he came, the more Lance panicked.

Hunk, realizing he was suffocating Lance, took a step back. He picked up Lance’s phone, and quickly dialed Veronica, “Hello? Lance?” she asked through the phone.

Hunk breathed a sigh of relief, “Veronica, thank god you answered. I don’t know what to do, Lance is having a panic attack I think, and I don’t know how to calm him down. He won’t let me come near him, and I - I’m freaking out man! He’s my best friend, and I can’t help him.” Hunk burst out crying, as he tried to explain the situation.

“Calm down, Hunk. He can’t handle it if you’re freaking out too. Don’t try to touch him, it’ll make it worse. And only ask yes or no questions, trying to get him to talk will make him panic more. Just be there for him. He’s going to appreciate that you didn’t run for help. If he wants, hold his hand but any other physical contact will be too much.” Veronica said with certainty. “Put me on speaker, if I can talk to him I might be able to calm him down.”

“Yeah, of course. One sec.” Hunk lowered the phone from his ear and put it on speaker. He then put in on the ground in the space between them as Lance curled further into himself.

“Hey, Lance, I know you feel really overwhelmed right now, but just close your eyes and listen to me, okay?” She took a pause before continuing. “Right now, you need to focus on your breathing, alright. In through your nose, hold for 8 seconds, and the breathe out through your mouth. It’ll all be okay, just breathe. Try focusing on something in the room, maybe count ceiling tiles. It’s going to be okay, alright?”

Lance tried to listen to her advice, but every time he tried to take a deep breath, his chest would constrict. He curled into himself further, and really focused on his breathing again. It helped, Veronica just talking into the phone. In. Out. Just like she told him. In. Out. In. Out. He glanced up at the ceiling tiles and started counting. _1\. 2. 3. 4. 5..._ The longer he counted the easier it felt. He counted as he heard her soothing voice murmur comforting words to him through the phone. And slowly, his breathing started to regulate. He was no long wheezing with tears running down his face angrily. The tears remained, shed and free flowing down his cheeks. They fell off his chin into his hands, his eyes still glistening with water. But the hard part was over.

He remembered Veronica’s words the first time she found him during a panic attack, _take it one step at a time, Lance. Just breathe. Let yourself breathe, and then come back to me._ Lance squeezed his eyes closed in an attempt to calm himself. His shoulders stopped shaking and his watery eyes held back tears.

Hunk reached an arm out to comfort Lance with a hand on her shoulder, but the second Hunk’s hand made contact, Lance shuddered and pulled himself away. “I’m sorry,” Lance murmured. “I’m so sorry.” He repeated, his body shaking with sobs.

Hunk stammered, unsure of how to help his best friend, “It’s okay. You’re okay. You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing is going to make me leave you.”

“No, no I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made such--” Lance hiccuped. “--a big deal.”

Hunk gave a watery smile, “Look man. You have _nothing_ to be sorry about. I am always going to be here for you. And none of your problems are small. I love you and nothing is going to make me stop. You’re my best friend.” Hunk paused to look at Lance, “Now? Can I hug you?”

Lance gave a weak smile, “Okay.”

Hunk, needing no further prompting, jumped forward and crushed his friend in a hug. “Don’t worry buddy, I’m here now.”

* * *

 

Keith was not freaking out.

Sure, Pidge was sitting across from him with a smug expression on their face, but it was fine.

“I know something,” They taunted.

Keith eyes darted frantically around the room, “What? Did you hack into NASA again. Find proof of aliens?”

“Not what I’m talking about but I did do that. NASA seems to be hiding something. There was a taken down satellite that seemed suspicious. I hacked in to look into it it and NASA seems to be taking a lot of precautions to cover it up. There’s at least three encrypted algorithms I have yet to crack.” Pidge grinned maniacally. “But I am _this_ close to breaking them. I’ve gotten throw two of the firewalls already, now I just gotta wait. Now it’s just a matter of time before I can find out what they are really doing. I’m so close.”

They paused before glancing at Keith suspiciously. “Wait a minute. I know what you’re trying to do. Trying to send me off on a tangent. Well guess what? I see through your feeble disguise, space boy.”

“I have no idea what you are referring to.” Keith feigned innocently.

Pidge glared, “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You think you can hide something from me”

“No-- I’m not keeping anything from you. Not anything important at least.” Keith mumbled.

“Not important? This is your soulmate we’re talking about!”

“Hey, who said anything about soulmates?!”

“Please, like you could hide this from me. Your body language clearly dictates a change in stimuli, specifically of the visual variety. The only explanation for such, being that you have met your soulmate. Check, and mate.”

“Okay, so maybe, no nope, definitely not, no no soulmates here.” Keith laughed awkwardly.

Pidge leaned forward, “Is that so?”

“Yes. That is what I said. Yep.”

“Are you sure this has nothing to do with a certain tannskined, darked haired someone named--”

“Fine, fine. Okay you got me. But it doesn’t even matter, he doesn’t even like me. Or guys.” Keith responded bitterly. “He didn’t remember the morning after, he just left and it’s fine. You know I never even thought I’d have a soulmate. I shouldn’t be surprised he doesn’t like me.”

Pidge’s eyes softened, “I’m sorry. Though I could’ve sworn he was gay. I’m pretty sure he had a thing with Griffin a while back.”

“Lance and Griffin? There’s no fucking way--”

“Wait?! Lance?! As in Lance McClain?”

“No, Lance Armstrong. Yes Lance McClain. Who did you think I was talking about?”

“Not Ryan Kinkade, that’s for sure.” Pidge glanced away in embarrassment, as their hypothesis was proven incorrect.

Keith scoffed, “Ryan Kinkade? God no. He’s not my type.”

“So what is your type? Dark hair? Tan skin? Blue eyes?”

“Okay. So point proven. But it’s not like it matters anyway, he doesn’t even like me?”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes I do.” Keith spat angrily. “He didn’t even fucking remember that we’re soulmates for fuck’s sake. He just left. He woke in my bed and I smiled at him a fucking idiot, as if he would tell me he wants me and everything would be great. But then he looked at me and he didn’t remember a fucking thing, going on and on about who he thought his soulmate was. And I just watched. I fucking watched Pidge. I watched as he walked out the door in search for some girl who doesn’t even exist. He doesn’t know it’s me and I don’t ever want him to find out. I guess they were right. All those kids in the foster homes saying I was useless and broken, and not even worth a soulmate.”

Keith turned away from Pidge to face the window, throwing his hands in the air, and screamed bitterly, “Well guess what?! You were fucking right, I’m not worth anything. Big surprise there.” His voice cut lower until it was barely above a whisper.

He sank to the floor, angry tears streaming down his face. Keith wasn’t one to cry. He didn’t cry when his parents died, or the day Shiro’s parents adopted him. Or even the day when Shiro hugged him after that one fatal moment at the bridged, and whispering that it was all going to be okay. But in this moment, Keith felt all of it. All of the sadness and tragedy he had ever faced all curled up in one moment as it spilled over the edge.

Keith had always had something to onto, that at least in this broken and cruel, he would have someone who loved him and cared for him. But now he faced the truth. He was worthless.

Pidge awkwardly stared as Keith broke down in front of them. Pidge didn’t know what to do, they didn’t have the best concept of comforting. So they did the only they could think of, “Do you want to play some Mario Kart?”

They weren’t sure how Keith would react, but it was better than nothing. Keith slowly looked up and wiped a tear from his eyes, “Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, things got busy and gsrtauctez and I could barely find time to write. Hopefully, we'll be back to posting regularly soon.
> 
> Thanks for the support.
> 
> See you next time.


	5. Headed to the Guillotine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been a little while since we posted, but approaching the end of the school term comes with certain time constraints. 
> 
> Hopefully, we'll be able to keep up with updating this fic more regularly.
> 
> Enjoy!

As the locker doors slammed behind them, Keith’s attention drifted from the small gremlin in front of him to Lance, who was now strutting down the hallway towards him.

“Well, if it isn’t lover boy himself. You should go say hi Keith.” Pidge pestered.

Keith glanced back at them before turning around to evade confrontation. “Actually, I think I have a chem lab I need to get to.”

“The only chemistry you need is walking right over here.” Keith glanced back to see Lance still making his way toward them. Of course, seeing him coming closer with that goddamn smirk made Keith want to disappear. Yet, at the same time, it also make him want to kiss that stupid smirk off of Lance’s stupidly attractive face.

Of course, Keith went with the disappearing act.

He quickly turned around, intending to make a break for it, but Pidge had other ideas.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Pidge said as they spun Keith around and pushed him into something, or more accurately, somone.

“Funny seeing you here, Mullet.” Lance smiled.

“We both go to school here.” Keith deadpanned. “Nothing new.”

“Beside’s my newfound sense of color, which you don’t have. As if anyone could ever fall in love with someone like you.” Lance joked.

An awkward silence followed, in which many things subsequently went down:

First, Lance realized that he had made a grievous mistake, his eyes widening in the realization that he had gone way too far in his attempt at humor.

Second, Pidge radiated pure hatred as they witnessed (third) Keith’s face subtly breaking under his facade.

Fourth, Hunk was absolutely panicking at the exchange and desperately trying to calm everyone down and absolve everything.

“Okay, that’s it bitch! You better shut the fuck up asshole! You have no right saying things like that!” Pidge raged.

“Pidge.” Keith whispered, “Stop.”

Pidge calmed remarkably at the sound of Keith’s broken voice but their stone cold glare didn’t waver.

Hunk intervened, “Guys! What are you doing? Stop fighting! This isn’t going to solve anything, and getting suspended won’t help either.”

Lance continued standing awkwardly, unsure of what to do. In an attempt to lighten the situation he tried to laugh it off, “Relax dude, it was only a joke, not my fault if you’re a little dense.”

This of course did not do anything to help the situation at all.

Lance watched as Keith’s eyes glossed over, before he spun on his heel and fled down the hall.

Pidge quickly followed after, but not before sending one more hateful glare towards Lance and flipping him off.

As Keith turned the corner, tears started spilling out of his eyes soundlessly. He hurried to the end of the adjacent hallway, opened the metal door and ascended the stairs leading to his favorite hiding place in the school.

Keith had found it middle of freshman year after a particularly bad panic attack. It was a rooftop garden, one which the environmental club was supposed to take care of but it seemed the only person who ever saw it was Keith.

It was beautiful the first time Keith saw it, filled with beautiful flowers and plants on the ground as well as Climbing Hydrangeas hanging from the trellis. Sitting on one of the few chairs, Keith curled into a ball and recovered the entrance with the vines hanging from the sides.

As he lay beneath the flowers, he tried to calm himself down. He knew that Lance didn’t care about him like that, but it hurt even more to know that Lance wasn’t even willing to be his friend. Keith didn’t know what he did wrong. On saturday morning, Lance seemed to get along with him fine, but now he’s acting like Keith personally offended him or something.

Keith felt all his own self-doubts wash over him. Everything the kids in the group homes said, that he was unloved and unwanted. And it’s not like Keith could blame Lance for wanting a beautiful, problem-free, perfect _girl_. The more he thought about it, the sicker he felt. But at the same time, maybe Lance was better off never knowing who is soulmate is. Maybe it would save him the disappointment and Keith from the rejection.

It hurt. Of course it did, knowing that your soulmate doesn’t want you. Would never want you.

After the hurt washed over, Keith felt angry.

With Lance, with himself, with the fucking universe.

Why did it do this to him? After all the shit he’s been through, he doesn’t even get the one thing everyone is promised. A goddamn soulmate.

His phone shook him out of his daze as it began ringing. Taking a quick glance to see who it was, he hesitated when he saw Pidge’s contact.

He listened as the phone continued ringing and eventually stopped, but continued staring down at his phone. Keith seemed lost in his own mind, slowly spiraling inward as his thoughts continued drowning him.

He knew Lance was joking; he wasn’t the malicious type, but it still hurt. He had heard people say that he didn’t deserve a soulmate his whole life.

_“As if anyone could ever care about you”_

_“You don’t deserve anything, especially not love.”_

_“You? Finding a soulmate? That’s like asking if I’ll ever be the president.”_

_“Soulmates are for people who have a family.”_

Keith had never let it affect him much before, but hearing it from his actual soulmate was more painful than anything he had ever anticipated. It’s one thing to be rejected by a soulmate, Keith could handle that, but to be outright mocked and belittled by the one person who the universe thought could ever care about him was a whole other level.

His body shook and stilled, wracked with unshed tears. Despite the desire to break down and cry, he held the tears back. Staring up at the vines above him he contented himself with the fact that he wanted to feel something. Wanted to be angry. Sad. Anything more than this dull ache in his body.

Instead, the feeling spread, leaving him numb and dissociated to the world. What feeling was left simply added to the mindset. The same thoughts pouring through his head over and over.

_Why can’t you be better than this. You’re overreacting and making it all about you._

It wasn’t hard to discern that Keith had had some issues in the past. It may have stemmed from his rough childhood, but it didn’t go away after he was in a stable environment. It had definitely gotten better, but sometimes all it would take was one thing to push him over the edge.

As he stared at the trellis above him, he took a deep breath in and let it out again slowly. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Lance stared after where Pidge and Keith had stalked out with only one thought managing to process.

_I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up I fucked up I fuc-_

“Lance! Snap out of it buddy! Do you even realize what you just did?!” Hunk yelled at him as he shook Lance out of his trance.

“I fucked up. That’s what I did. I really really really fucked up.”

“You don’t say!” Hunk retorted. “You know, I thought you had said that Keith wasn’t as bad as you thought. You even said you were getting along pretty well and that he was going to help us find your soulmate.”

“I know what I said Hunk,” Lance replied. “I know what I said, and I know what came out of my mouth was really horrible and then I tried to laugh it off, but oh god, I made it worse. And now he and everyone else is gonna hate me and oh, I don’t know what to do, Hunk tell me what to do!”

“Okay, okay buddy, calm down. You did fuck up and I want you to know that if you ever do something like that again I’m not going to be as forgiving regardless as to who it’s directed towards. Lucky for you, I think that I can calm Pidge down some, but Keith is all yours. You are solely responsible for fixing that relationship.”

Lance let out a groan and clasped his hands to his head. “Oh man, this… I feel terrible and I know I crossed a line and I just wish I could just fix everything with the snap of my fingers, but I can’t.” He let out another groan and leaned into Hunk’s shoulder.

“I’m a pretty terrible person aren’t I?”

“Lance, you’re not a terrible person. You made a mistake is all, everyone makes them, it just so happens your mistake was a pretty bad one. But it’s going to be okay. The first step in making it better is to find Pidge and Keith and apologize, so that is what we’re going to do.” Hunk calmly explained. Spiraling in their own thoughts wasn’t going to help, so at least one of them had to step up and steer towards the right direction.

“Okay. Okay, we can do that. We just have to find them first. Where the heck did they go?”

“I have no idea,” Hunk breathed.

“Well, you know Pidge pretty well, right? Where do you think they would go?”

“Probably to one of the labs. Science seems to calm them, especially when they’re angry. But if they are there, do not touch anything, there is an eighty nine percent chance whatever they may be working on could explode in your face and kill you.”

“Well, that’s a nice thought.” Lance scoffed.

Lance and Hunk headed off in the direction that Keith and Pidge had gone, asking around to see if anyone had seen the two. Eventually, someone pointed them in the direction of the labs, proving Hunk’s theory correct. They found Pidge meticulously constructing what looked like a small round metal ball attached to numerous colorful wires. When they spotted the two boys in the doorway, they stopped their project and glared down at them.

“How nice of you to stop by, I was actually just working on a little gift for you, want a closer look?” Pidge smirked as Lance and Hunk’s eyes widened in fear.

Hunk cleared his throat, “hm, actually we came here to apologize to you and Keith for the unfortunate outburst from earlier.”

“And to say that I could not be more sorry and I feel absolutely terrible and I really want to make it up to you both.” Lance added.

“Well, I’m sure you do, but a simple apology isn’t going to do. You see, I don’t know where Keith is currently, and I am extremely worried about him, hence why I’m making a robot to track him--”

“Oh, that’s what that is!” Lance gasped.

“Yes, and if you interrupt me again, I can activate the explosives I also implanted into it.” Lance’s face paled, and he took a step back.

“Now, you are going to find Keith, you are going to apologize, and you are never going to do anything like this ever again. Otherwise, I’m sure you won’t be very happy with me as your enemy.”

* * *

 Lance had looked everywhere for Keith.

The rest of the school day passed in a blur between classes and looking for him. Although Keith did show up to the two classes they shared, English and Math, he kept to himself and pointedly ignored Lance’s attempts at talking to him.

The second the bell ranged, Keith was out the door and by the time Lance had gotten into the hallway, the other boy was gone.

Lance was seriously considering the fact Keith was a fucking magician, given how he always seemed to be disappearing on Lance.

It’s not like Lance hadn’t tried. He’d attempted to initiate a conversation both times he saw Keith before the bell rang, but Keith seemed keen on ignoring Lance completely. Lance knows he messed up, irrevocably made a mess out of things and has no idea how to fix it.

Sure, Lance was joking. But the joke wasn’t funny. It was actually pretty tasteless of him. He knew that, but he had no clue what to do next.

But the one thing Lance knew was he was not giving up. By the end of the school day, Lance was seriously contemplating going to Keith’s house to find him. He was pretty sure Adam and Shiro would let him in if begged. Or maybe Shiro might shut the door in his face for saying something that hurtful towards his little brother.

Lance decided he’d take one last look around the school and if he couldn’t find Keith, he would go home and try again tomorrow (he figured it’d be creepy if he drove to Keith’s house after only being there once, hungover no less).

He checked all of the empty classrooms twice, the courtyard, the cafeteria, and pretty much any other place he thought Keith might be hiding out.

After a while, he finally gave up and trekked to his car in resignation.

 _I’ll apologize tomorrow_ , Lance swore.

* * *

 He didn’t.

Not for a lack of trying, but Keith was still skillfully avoiding him like a trained assassin. He tried to apologize to Keith both during English and Math but Keith left quickly and quietly the moment after the bell rang.

Lance even spent his entire lunch period searching for the boy in question but neither him nor Pidge were anywhere to be found.

This repeated cycle went on for about a week before Lance started to consider just giving up.

“I mean, what am I supposed to do? He won’t even let me near enough to apologize so why bother trying. It was a joke Hunk, he shouldn’t have taken it so seriously.” Lance complained.

Hunk’s eyes turned sympathetic, “Lance. I know you thought it was a joke but soulmates are touchy subjects for some people.”

“What do you mean?” Lance asked.

“Some people have met their soulmate and they died. And then they lose the color in their eyes and they have to spend the rest of their lives in grayish tones after knowing what life could look like in color.” Hunk frowned.

“That’s terrible.” Lance replied as he let the sadness of the statement wash over him.

Hunk continued on, “Or have spent their entire life waiting for one, and it never happens. Others, their soulmates are strictly platonic on one end and romantic on the other.”

“That would suck. You wanting something more and them just wanting to be friends.” Lance frowned, his face sullen.

“It’s not like they can help it. You can’t help how you feel about a person.” Hunk stated.

“I guess." His scowl deepened.

“You have to understand It’s not linear. Or binary. So don’t make a joke about Keith’s soulmate when you don’t know his situation with it.” Hunk said.

Lance groaned, “But he had to know I was joking, right?”

“It doesn’t matter if you were joking or not, you said something really rude to him. And now, you need to fix it.” Hunk told Lance, always the voice of reason.

Lance sighed, “I’ve tried. He won’t talk to me. He always leaves class right after the bell rings and I can never find him during lunch. Why should I apologize when he won’t even let me near him?”

Hunk rolled his eyes, “So make yourself impossible to ignore. It might not have seemed like a big deal to you, but what you said could have really hurt him.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Lance mumbled. “We finally ended up on good terms and I ruined it because of my big mouth.”

“So fix it.”

“You say that like it’s simple.”

“Maybe it is.”

* * *

_Maybe it is_ , Lance thought in his head on repeat.

It didn’t seem simple, not to Lance.

Most of his and Keith’s interactions were from when Lance was obsessed with maintaining their rivalry (one which Lance soon realized was very much one sided). So Lance didn’t know enough about Keith to know what he would consider a good apology.

The only interaction Lance would consider friendly was the morning after he spent the night at Keith’s. He was actually sweet, agreeing to help Lance find his soulmate. So maybe Lance’s first impression of Keith was wrong.

 _Ugh_. He really needed to fix this, but how?

The solution didn't come until two days later, when Pidge cornered him in the hallway on his way to lunch, “Why have you not apologized yet?!” They spat angrily.

“I’ve tried! He’s avoiding me.” Lance told her.

“So?” Pidge asked, their glare still present, “Talk to him. What you said was really fucked up.”

“You don’t think I know that?!” Lance exclaimed.

Pidge’s eyes hardened, “I don’t know what you know. Other than the fact you seem so focused on finding your damn soulmate that you don’t pay attention to who your stepping over to get there. And that, Lance, is fucked up.”

“I don’t know how to fix it. I know what I said was terrible, and I want to apologize.’ Lance glanced down. “But I don’t know how.”

“Keith doesn’t need a grand apology or some shit, he just needs a genuine, real ‘I’m sorry’.” Pidge said, their eyes softening at Lance’s intent to apologize. “Just have a conversation with him. A real conversation without all of that superficial rival bullshit.”

Lance sighed, “Okay okay, yeah… I can do that. I can just talk to him. Yup. Yep. That I can do.”

“He spends his lunch hour in the rooftop garden when he wants to be alone,” Pidge paused. “He thinks I don’t know that, so don’t mention it, but I don’t to invade on his quiet place, you know?”

Lance nodded, “Yeah. I get that--wait, then why are you telling me about it?”

“Something tells me you need a quiet place of your own sometimes. And Keith isn’t the easiest person to talk to, I would know.” Pidge laughed halfheartedly.

“So what do I do when I get up there?” Lance asked.

“Talk to him.” Pidge answered like it was obvious.

Maybe it was.


	6. Waves that Swallow Quick and Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,  
> Sorry for not posting for so long, but finally chapter 6 has been finished.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy, and happy pride month!

Lance followed Pidge’s instructions to the garden, only to find it at first glance empty, of course. He found it fitting that the universe did everything in its power to make sure he wouldn’t be able to apologize.

 

But he had to admit, the garden was breathtaking.

 

It was lined with various plants and flowers, each blooming a seemingly different color. It had the aesthetic that all overgrown buildings seemed to have - the peace and serenity it brought was uncomparable, no wonder Keith enjoyed it so much.

 

He could imagine Keith laying under the trellis with climbing hydrangeas framing his face as he stared off in the distance, a passive look on his face. Almost all of Keith’s faces were passive, lacking emotion, but when he did show it, he did so with his entire face. A small smile from him was like a full-blown grin from anyone else.

 

Lance let out a groan as he searched, but as he suspected, Keith was no longer there. Quite honestly he wasn’t sure that apologizing would even be worth it at this point. He had tried, he had failed, end of story. But standing there under the trellis he felt like he could understand Keith a bit more, and thinking about Keith running away from him and hating Lance was enough for him to decide to really step up.

 

It was only when he was standing in front of Keith’s house did Lance realize he probably should have thought this through a little more. He glanced back at his car before turning back to face the door, his eyes lit with determination.

 

 _Okay, so I need a plan that results with everybody happy, no one mad, and me still in one piece. So I could go with the old “I’m so sorry, please forgive me” begging, I could try and speak from the heart? Maybe offer collateral?_ Lance was so deep in thought he was completely startled by the shout from the backyard.

 

Curious about the voice that sounded distinctly like Keith, Lance pivoted and stalked quickly down the porch towards the back yard. As he neared, the voices became louder, and Lance could tell it was two people in a conversation. Namely, Keith and Shiro.

 

“So what are you going to do about it?” Lance heard Shiro ask.

 

Keith let out a loud sigh, “I don’t know. Nothing probably. I mean, there’s no point.”

 

“You can’t possibly know that for sure. I mean, what if it was all just a misunderstanding?”

 

Keith snorted, “I’m pretty sure he made it perfectly clear about how he feels about me.”

 

“But--”

 

“No buts Shiro, he doesn’t want me!” Keith yelled. “Why can’t you just accept it! It’s not like you and Adam, I’ve accepted that I don’t get that happy ending. My soulmate doesn’t want me okay! There’s nothing I can do about it, so stay out of it!”

 

Lance heard as Shiro’s voice softened as he called out his brothers name. Lance shifted closer so he could see them both. Keith was sitting in a chair in the yard, Shiro kneeling next to him. Keith’s hair was covering his eyes, but Lance had no doubt that he was crying. He could see Keith shuddering from where he was, and could hear Shiro muttering comforting words to his brother.

 

Lance backed away from the back gate, feeling as if he was intruding on something private. And no wonder Keith responded so badly to Lance’s ill timed joke, given what he had just learned about Keith’s soulmate.

 

Unrequited soulmates weren’t common, but they did happen. Sometimes, they would fall in love with someone else or already be in a relationship prior to meeting them. It was always so much worse to be the one rejected though.

 

Given how much pain he went through with the whole ‘Nyma cheating thing’ Lance couldn’t even imagine how Keith must be feeling.

 

It was then that Lance decided plans be damned, he was going to make Keith feel better even if it meant that his apology would fall on deaf ears.

 

He began walking over and caught Shiro’s eyes as he made his way over. Shiro’s eyes widened as he saw Lance approaching and he stepped forward in an attempt to protect his younger brother. Lance stopped for a moment, held his hands up in surrender trying to silently convey that he wasn’t going to do anything drastic or upsetting.

 

Shiro seemed cautious of Lance as he continued forward, following his footsteps with a seething glare. Lance wondered if Keith had mentioned what happened between them to Shiro before he had gotten there, how his insensitive comment had affected him after learning his soulmate was unrequited.

 

How fucking typical of Lance, to rub salt in Keith’s wounds like this.

 

“Keith?” Lance asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

 

Keith looked up at the sound of Lance’s voice, his purple eyes glistening violently with tears. He was huddled on a lawn chair in long pants and a sweatshirt and seemed to be concealing most of his face, except for his eyes, which were a dead-giveaway to how Keith was truly feeling. At the sight of Lance, his eyes hardened and his face contorted back to the passive look Lance found so unnerving, “What do you want, Lance?” Keith glared.

 

Lance took a step back at the sudden hostility Keith displayed before pushing forward with his apology.

 

“I--I came to say that I’m sorry.” Lance stammered.

 

Keith’s eyes narrowed as he spat, “Does it look like I want your apology? Lot of good that does me, a bunch of fucking useless words.”

 

“They’re not useless, I mean them. I know that I fucked up, I know that you’re hurting. I mean, I know that you hate me right now, but I really am sorry. And I’m sorry it took me this long to apologize and I’m sorry that I said those words in the first place, I’m sorry for everything okay!” Lance took a breath, “And I know this doesn’t excuse what I said, but when I said it, I didn’t know your soulmate was--you know--”

 

“Unrequited?” Keith scoffed. “You can say it, it’s not a bad word. How much of the conversation did you hear, anyway?”

 

“Just the unrequited thing, I swear.” Keith stared at Lance, his eyes boring an indiscernible emotion before turning his gaze to Shiro, “Okay. Thank you for apologizing but I’m done now. Shiro, I’m going inside.” he paused before glancing at Lance one last time, “Goodbye Lance.”

 

Lance watched as Keith walked back inside before turning back to face Shiro. “I’m not sure what he told you bu--”

 

“He told me enough to know that you should probably leave now.”

 

“Look Shiro, I--”

 

“I know you’re sorry, but right now I think you should leave, alright?”

 

Lance was about to object, but upon seeing Shiro’s expression, decided he was right. He had accomplished what he had came to do, albeit not as well as he had hoped.

 

“Okay, I’ll go, but is there any way you can think of that would make Keith hate me any less?”

 

“Just give it time, Lance.” Shiro said. “Now get the hell off my property.”

 

Lance scurried out of the backyard and back to his car as quickly as his feet could possibly take him. He, without a doubt, knew if he tried to stay there a minute longer, Shiro would have ripped him a new one for what he said to his baby brother.

 

Even though Lance had apologized to Keith, it still didn’t feel like enough. At least, it didn’t seem like Keith had forgiven him yet, and Lance knew his mission was to get Keith to do so. Making a decision, Lance headed to the one person he knew could help him figure out how to make it up to Keith

 

* * *

 

Pulling up to the Garret’s house, Lance ran out of the car, up the driveway, and burst through the door without warning.

 

He yelled a quick hello to Mr. and Mrs. Garrett before clamoring up the stairs and barging into Hunk’s room, and face-planting onto his bed, laying himself over Hunk dramatically with a sigh.

 

“Is there a special reason for you being overdramatic today?”

 

“Hunk, my main man, we have a problem.”

 

“And what would the problem be this time?”

 

“So remember when I royally fucked up and told Keith no one would ever love him, and then I tried to apologize for days but I couldn’t find him, except now I did find him and I found out he does know his soulmate, except his soulmate is unrequited, and I tried to apologize after that except it didn’t work, and now I have to figure out a way to fix all of that.” Lance breathed out.

 

“Well, that was a lot to take in, but I think the takeaway here is that you tried.” Hunk comforted, “He may not be ready to forgive you yet, but that doesn’t mean he won’t ever. Just give him time.”

 

“That’s what Shiro said too, but what if he never does?” Lance sighed loudly.

 

“Dude. It’s been an hour since you apologized to him.”

 

“I know, I know. But--”

 

“No. I mean, how would you feel? Being told by someone you are incapable of being loved right after finding out your soulmate doesn’t love you back. I mean, yeah, you fucked up. But you’ve got to give him time. And even then he might not forgive you, but he could. And isn’t that worth it. But what I do know, is you bugging him and being over the top about it will make him want to forgive you less.”

 

Lance leaned his head on Hunk’s shoulder. “I just wish I had never made that stupid fucking joke.”

 

“I know, buddy, I know. But you can’t change that now, all you can do is wait for Keith to forgive you.”

 

“I guess.”

 

“You know I’m right.”

 

“Yeah.” Lance pulled Hunk into a side hug, “I know. But that doesn’t make it any easier.”

 

“Nothing worthwhile ever is.”

 

Lance fell back onto Hunk’s lap with another sigh. “I mean, there’s gotta be something I can do for him. Something that shows that I really meant what I said, but still not seeming like I’m buying his forgiveness.” Lance speculated.

 

“You could get him a small gift, like a stuffed animal or chocolate or something.” Hunk suggested.

 

“No, it needs to mean something. Something that would make him smile and show him that I really am sorry. Cause you know I am, you should’ve seen him when I went to his house to apologize. He was all bundled up in his hoodie even though it's like super fucking hot out and I know he was crying before I got there, you-- you should’ve seen his eyes, man. I mean--they’ve always been this pretty shade of purple but they were electric, but they weren’t as gentle as I’d become used to seeing them. They were gorgeous sure, but also fucking terrifying.” Lance blushed.

 

“Wow… that’s more than I’ve heard you talk about someone’s eyes since Nyma, with her gorgeous blue orbs straight from the fjords.” Hunk laughed.

 

Lance turned a deeper shade of red, “I did not sound like that.”

 

“Uh huh. Sure, buddy.”

 

“No seriously, I really don’t want to be thinking about Nyma right now. And I don’t like Keith, I mean sure he’s pretty and muscular, but I… I mean, attractive only gets you so far, it would never happen. Ever.”

 

“True.” Hunk snorted. “I mean, you’d probably kill each other before the second date.”

 

Lance forced out a laugh that came out a bit too loud, “Yeah. I mean… imagine it. Me and Keith, it just doesn’t make sense.”

 

Lance’s laugh teetered off in an uncomfortable manner.

 

“So… I made some waffles earlier. Want one?”

 

“Oh my god, Hunk. You should’ve led with that, man?” Lance grinned. “You’re a god with food. I come from a family of Cubans and I would still take your tamales over my moms. Though, nothing beats my moms homemade fritas.”

 

“That’s true. I remember the first time I was over for dinner and she made them. I hounded her for the recipe for weeks. No luck though.”

 

“Sorry man, family recipe. So unless you want to marry into the family--”

 

Hunk laughed, “I think I’m pretty set with Shay.”

 

“Yeah. You two are perfect for each other. Like two halves of a whole or some cosmic shit.”

 

“You know, everyone says that soulmates complete eachother or whatever but honestly, I think it’s the opposite. I was a whole person before Shay and I met, now she just reminds me that because of her, I’m the best person I can be.” A small smile formed on Hunk’s face-- one Lance recognized as Hunk being completely smitten.

 

“That’s nice. I want that with someone.”

 

“You will.” Hunk stared at Lance. “You are such a great person and I know someone will fall head over heels in love with you someday.”

 

“I hope.” Lance glanced down. “I just-- I think this whole soulmate thing is freaking me out. And the Keith thing. I mean-- if his soulmate is unrequited, there could be a chance mine is too. You know, I hadn’t really thought of that possibility before. It was always once you find your soulmate, you’ll live happily ever after. And that’s what happens to everyone. I mean, I knew unrequited soulmates were out there, I just hadn’t met someone who’s actually experienced that. And now, all I can think about it how much it sucks that Keith might not ever find requited love--”

 

“Don’t say that, there are plenty of people who end up with people other than their soulmates.”

 

“Yeah, I know. I guess, just if the universe thinks someone is perfect for you and not even they can love you back, doesn’t that say something about you? Doesn’t it say that maybe you’re just unlovable?”

 

By the look on Hunk’s face, Lance could tell he had said something wrong.

 

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“You know Lance, I love you but sometimes you're really insensitive. I know, that first was meant to be a joke but your acting like a real ass. Who the fuck cares if the universe thinks your right for someone. The universe can go fuck itself. Cause I’m not with Shay cause she’s my soulmate, I’m with her because I like how I feel when I’m around her. I like how we connect and sure, some of it might be because of chemistry in our bodies from the goddamn universe, but most of it is because even after we took the time to get to know each other, we still like each other. We’re not soulmates because the universe chose us, we’re soulmates because we chose each other.”

 

“But what does this have to do with Kei--”

 

“Everything, Lance!” Hunk glared at his best friend, “Yeah, it sucks that Keith’s soulmate is unrequited, but you making comments about him being unlovable to me is the same as making jokes about it to his face. Maybe even worse, because now you know why it hurt him so much. Keith doesn’t deserve to be judged and made fun of for something he can’t change.”

 

“I’m not making fun of him.”

 

“Not right now, but you are saying that because the fucking universe says he’s meant for one person, it means no one else will love him.”

 

“That’s not what I--”

 

“That’s what you said, Lance. You know, I was defending you to Pidge for just making one stupid comment, but wake up. I know you’re freaking out about your soulmate but that doesn’t give you the right to say anything about Keith’s situation!” Hunks voice grew until his last few words came out as a shout.

 

Lance sat back stunned, his eyes blown wide open. Hunk rarely, if not ever, yelled at him. He wasn’t the yelling type, and was always soft-spoken. And if Lance could make Hunk yell at him, one thing was for certain.

 

Lance fucked up.

 

_Again._

 

“I’m going down to grab those waffles,” Hunk sighed, his eyes looking both guilty for yelling and disappointed at Lance. “I’ll be back.”

 

Lance flopped down on the bed and counted the number of times the ceiling fan would whirl all the way around.

 

_1… 2… 3… 4…_

 

_17… 18… 19…_

 

By 26, he had given up.

 

Huffing, Lance recalled the conversation in his head.

 

He didn’t say what he said to hurt Keith or make fun of him. Lance’s head was just filled with anxiety-ridden thoughts of what he would do if his own soulmate was unrequited, if that’s why they haven’t told him yet. And somehow, in his own outloud musings to himself, he said things he was scared of about himself to Hunk but used Keith’s name instead.

 

 _How fucked up is that?_ Lance thought. _I can’t face my own insecurities so I just pawn them off on Keith._

 

And Lance knew, he knew, that Keith would be easy to fall in love with. If his soulmate doesn’t see what a catch Keith was, someone else would. Not that Lance would want to fall in love with Keith, he was just stating facts that someone might like the whole badboy, stepped out of the 80's magazine, but has a heart of gold look. Find it endearing even. Just not Lance.

 

For Lance though, his soulmate feels like his only chance at happily ever after.

 

And if his soulmate didn’t want him, why would _anyone_ else?

 

And that thought haunted him until Hunk walked back in the room, waffles in hand. Seeing Lance’s broken face, Hunk eyes softened dramatically and closed the distance pulling him into a tight hug.

 

“Hey… buddy? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

 

“I just--- what if, what if they don’t want me? What if that’s why they haven’t told me that I’m their soulmate?” Lance hiccupped, “I just--I don’t know what to do Hunk? I don’t know, I got so wrapped up in feeling this way that I just, uhh, I just… said some really bad things about Keith I didn’t mean. Anyone would be lucky to fall for Keith. I guess… I just-- don’t think the same way about myself.”

 

Hunk wrapped his arms tighter around Lance, and Lance tucked himself into Hunks lovable hug like it was a cocoon.

 

And Lance, well he buried himself further into it like it was the only protection from the outside world and everything else going on in his life.


	7. Shooting Fireworks Like It's the Fourth of July

Keith hurried inside and shut the door before letting tears fall from his eyes and stream down his face.

He could hear the conversation between Shiro and Lance carry on, but it sounded like a faint murmur over white noise to Keith’s ears. He sank onto the floor, barely registering the fact that Cosmo was now scratching at the door, wanting to be let in. 

Keith reached up, and pulled the door open wide enough for Cosmo to come in, then shut it again. Cosmo padded up to Keith and tapped him with his paw as if asking his owner what was wrong. Keith, who was never the most physically-affectionate person, threw his arms around Cosmo’s head and buried his face into the blanket that was Cosmos’ fur.

Keith doesn’t know how long he stayed like that, in that vulnerable position, but it was long enough for Shiro’s conversation with Lance to finish and for him to come inside looking like he wanted to murder someone. 

Faintly, Keith wondered what they talked about.

Then, he decided that he didn’t care to ask. He would rather go hole himself in his room and eat ice cream while watching conspiracy videos on youtube.

It was only after five episodes of _Cryptids Creepers_ and half a pint of ice cream later that Shiro finally decided to talk about what happened.

Keith heard the sharp rap of knuckles on his door even through his headphones, but opted to continue wallowing in sadness and drowning it in sugary sweetness.

“Keith, I really think we should talk more about what happened. Do you think you could let me in?” Shiro’s voice called from behind the door. “I know that you would rather be left alone, but me and Adam are here for you if you feel the need to talk, or comfort , or anything.”

“I’m perfectly fine Shiro, I don’t need to be babied by you or anyone else for that matter.”

“No one is ‘babying’ you Keith, we’re just trying to make light of a bad situation. We’re trying to help you.”

“Well guess what? I’m fine so if you could just fuck off and leave me alone, that would be great.”

Shiro let out a sigh and backed away from the door. “Well, if you do find yourself needing someone, I’ll be here.”

Keith listened to the retreating footsteps before taking a deep breath to calm himself. He found it a miracle that he lasted the entire conversation before bursting into tears, something he would _really_ rather avoid.

He took another breath before looking at the state he was in. It was a tactic he learned in therapy, a time he would prefer to not talk or think about, that was supposed to help him analyze his mental and physical health so he could be aware of the signs that could lead to depressive episodes.

He thought about the past few hours and how quickly it had all deteriorated before his eyes.

The confrontation, the _pity_ in Shiro’s eyes, Lance fucking showing up because of course he did. It was all too much to think about, so Keith decided not to.

He decided not to feel anything.

And he went back to his bingeing and binge eating.

 _No one ever got over heartbreak in a day right?_ Keith thought. _Wait. Heartbreak? I guess that’s what it is. Fucking heartbreak._

 

 

* * *

 

 

Keith didn’t come to school the next day.

Or the next.

On the third day, Lance was ready to go right back and pry the door off his house to make sure Keith was okay. He hated feeling responsible for how Keith was reacting, but he was and so he dealt with it.

It was exactly one second before the bell rang when Keith finally walked through the door into the school.

Lance felt relieved, Hunk felt concerned, and Pidge didn’t even have time to feel anything before they were crushing Keith in a somewhat awkward hug.

Lance saw Keith stiffen at Pidge’s embrace, before melting into it.

His eyes closed as he hooked his chin over Pidge’s shoulder, which Lance noted looked funny considering how much taller Keith was then Pidge, and let out a chuckle. At that, Keith looked up and made eye contact with Lance. At the sight of him, Keith’s eyes hardened and he pulled away from Pidge.

Lance, who still felt guilty over his comment to Keith as well as what he said to Hunk at his house, decided he would apologize to Keith later, when he wasn’t with Pidge, who wouldn’t hesitate to kick his ass if he said something wrong. Which Lance wouldn’t put past them..

Something about Keith made Lance say stupid things he didn’t mean. It was like every time he would see the other boy, his brain completely shorted out, leaving only the worst possible situations behind.

Before he or Hunk could say anything to the pair, the late bell rang signaling first period was starting. 

Lance watched as Keith tugged Pidge down the hallway, obviously trying to avoid interaction with him.

“Lance, c’mon, we gotta get to class. We’re already late as is, and you know Professor Curtis will kill you if you’re late again this week.”

“I know I know. I’m going.” The two boys split off at the end of the hallway, Hunk heading towards the Art wing for his woodshop class while Lance leisurely strolled towards the Social Studies Hallway. 

He reached Room 201, and stepped through the door, glancing at his teacher, and placed a late pass on Mr. Curtis’ desk. Mr. Curtis gave Lance a disappointed look but continued teaching. Lance made his way to his seat, which was in the middle of the classroom, and pulled out his history notes.

Mr. Curtis droned on for the rest of the period and, as usual, Lance completely ignored him. 

Now that Keith was back and still mad at Lance, he needed a way to show Keith that he could be trusted, that they could even be _friends._

The bell rang after forty-five terribly long minutes and Lance hurried out of the classroom as quickly as he could. “Lance?” he heard as he tried to exit. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Mr. Curtis asked.

Turning around with a sigh, Lance walked towards his teacher, “Yes, Mr. Curtis?”

“You’ve been late to my class two times this week, nine times in the past month. You understand if your late anymore times, I’ll have to give you detention.” Mr. Curtis told him.

Lance shifted his feet nervously, “I know sir. I’ll try to not be late again. I just have to drive my younger siblings to school before coming here, and their school starts later than us so it’s hard to drop them off an hour early.” 

“If that’s the issue, you should talk to a supervisor up at the office, they can arrange busses for them if they need it. They can even provide breakfast and before care too.”

Lance was surprised at that, he hadn’t known his teachers could care about his family's well being. His mom and dad were both working such long hours, his mom having the night shift at the hospital most nights and his dad working all day. Lance and the rest of his siblings had to pick up the slack, it was unavoidable. Lance had never asked any of his teachers or other adults for help because he figured they wouldn’t want to. They aren’t going to be paid for helping take care of his siblings so Lance can get to school on time. Instead, Lance just learned to suck it up. Take the hit for being late so his siblings didn’t have to.

“I’ll see what my mom thinks of that idea, but I really have to jet off to my next class, you wouldn’t want me to be late for another class would ya?”

“Very well, but if this behaviour consists --”

“I know, I know, thanks Mr. Curtis.”

Lance scurried out of the classroom, realizing he only had two minutes to make it to Spanish before the second bell rang. He hurried up the stairs and into his Spanish classroom, making way towards his seat next to Hunk. 

Hunk was chatting to Shay, who sat behind him. They were holding hands and talking in hushed whispers that seemed very intimate. 

They were the type of couple you could look at and immediately know they were soulmates.

They just _fit._

 

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the day flew by until lunchtime. Rushing out of Drama, Lance met up with Hunk and Shay at their usual table. They were sitting next to each other, talking amicably to the couple with large gestures.

Lance walked toward his usual seat, which was across from the couple.

Lance sat down at the table, “Hey guys!”

“Hey, man.” Hunk said. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you want to come with me to the festival of lights this weekend?”

“We were going to go there together as a date, but I’m out of town with my parents.” Shay continued.

“Yeah, sounds cool dude.” Lance started, “I bet it’s so beautiful in color.”

Hunk and Shay nodded, “You’ll love it Lance. Hunk and I went last year and the colors are absolutely breathtaking. Make sure you stay till the end of the festival.” Shay said with a small smile adorning her face, as if she was stuck in a memory.

“I can imagine.” Lance responded.

Then, Pidge sat down in the seat next to Lance, sighing as they drowned themselves with coffee, “God… I need more caffeine in my life. This school coffee is so shitty, and my morning red eye only lasts so long.”

Hunk, Shay, and Lance laughed at Pidge, who gave them an amused look. Hunk and Pidge started geeking out, over something Lance tried (and failed) to understand. Shay turned to look at him, “Any more information with the whole soulmate thing? Hunk told me you still haven’t found them.”

Honesty, Lance hadn’t been thinking of the whole soulmate situation after what happened with Keith. After his conversation with Hunk about his own insecurities, Lance had been trying to avoid thinking of his soulmate. Trying to avoid the unwanted thought his brain seemed to always circle back to, that they didn’t _want_ him.

“Not yet.” He answered.

Shay gave him an empathetic smile, “You’ll find them soon. I just know it.”

“Thanks,” Lance told her, “I hope so.”  

The statement fell short, but Lance could tell it came off as defeated.

After that, the conversation died off and Shay stared awkwardly as Hunk and Pidge continued talking. Lance then took the time to glance around at the rest of the cafeteria as his eyes subconsciously sought out Keith. He didn’t seem to be in the room, and Lance had a feeling he was up on the terrace where Pidge said he usually went when he wanted to be alone.

“Hey, guys.” He addressed the group of friends, “I’ll catch up with you later. I got something to do before lunch ends.”

Hunk looked concerned, “What is it, buddy?”

“Nothing.” Lance grimaced, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.” Hunk answered.

Pidge gave him a look before he left as if she knew exactly where he was going. It was a look Lance had recognized pretty well over the last few weeks, one saying _don’t fuck this up_. 

The ‘again’ remained unspoken.

  


* * *

 

 

Keith opened the access door to the roof and climbed the stairs.

He emerged on the terrace, pulled out a water bottle, and started to water some of the potted plants he had made a few months ago. He tried to come up every couple days to the roof to water the plants as well as plant new ones.

Keith loved the serenity he felt up on the roof, like in a world filled with smog and industrialization, there was always someplace he could go that was a mix of nature and the real world. That Keith could bring plants and nature into a place seemingly filled with the product of urbanization.

When he ran out of water, he put the bottle back in the bag and sat down near the edge of the roof. From this vantage point, he could see the entire school and the surrounding neighborhood. It added to the calming effect to be able to see everything that was going on.

Sometimes Keith would even make up life stories for the people far below him, imagining what they were saying to each other.

He was lost in one of those fantasy conversations when he heard the creak of the door opening behind him. He didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was, after all, only one other person knew about this place.

“You know Pidge, there’s a reason I came up here. Being alone is hard to do with two people.”

“Oh shut up, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind a little company.” At that comment Keith’s eyes widened as he turned to face a person who was most definitely not Pidge.

“Lance.” Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair, “What in god’s name are you doing up here? I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I don’t want to see you anytime soon.” He stood and faced Lance head on with a glare.

Lance visibly gulped at that, “Well, I wanted to try this again without anything in the way this time. Pidge told me you come up here sometimes.”

“Wanted to try what again?”

Lance took a deep breath before making eye contact with Keith, causing both boys to blush slightly. “I’m sorry Keith. I’m sorry for how poorly I acted and for all the hurtful things I said, I didn’t mean any of them. I know I haven’t made the best impression thus far, and our friend groups seem to be getting closer, so I tried to make it better, but things kept getting in the way.

I’m sorry for eavesdropping back at your house, I’m sorry that I didn’t say this all sooner, I-  I’m just sorry for everything, ok. And I really want to make it up to you, so whatever it takes, I want to be friends with you. I know you’re not my biggest fan right now but, please accept my apology?”

Keith looked at the other boy before him, Lance’s eyes darting back and forth waiting for an answer, and for the first time in a while, Keith didn’t feel anger looking at him.

He just felt sadness.

And he could accept that.

“Ok.”

“Ok? Just, just like that? No, ‘but only ifs?’”

“I know you mean it, I mean you staked out my house like a stalker to try and apologize before.”

“But you do forgive me?’

“I forgive you. But that doesn’t give you permission to just forget everything that happened. You can’t just make that disappear with a snap of your fingers. I still don’t fully trust you, but it means a lot to me that you tried so hard.”

A smile spread wide across Lance’s face, “Oh man, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I still feel terrible though. There’s gotta be a way I can make it up to you.”

“No. I don’t need any pity presents. You’ve done enough, trust me. Now I would love if I could just be left alone for a few mo--”

“You could come to the lights festival with me… and Hunk. Both of us I mean.”

Keith glanced over at Lance questioningly, “The lights festival?”

“Yeah! You know I’m sure Pidge would love to come too, and then we can all hang out together, I can even buy you food or something if you want. Oh, it’ll be so much fun! And with all the colors and stuff, oh it’ll be great!” Lance burst out, “Oh I just know you’ll love it. You’ll come, right?”

Watching Lance gush about the prospect of it all sparked a fire in Keith. A fire that kept burning the longer he looked, but he didn’t mind. He knew he walked a dangerous road, someone heartbroken pining after the very person who broke his heart. But Keith couldn’t help himself. Some things were worth getting burned for. “Of course I’ll come.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lance bounced nervously around the room, pacing back and forth.

“Do you think this’ll all go over well? I really hope that he’ll enjoy the light show. And that he won’t hate me anymore. But what if I fuck up again?!”

“Lance!” Hunk yelled, breaking Lance out of his panic. “It’s going to be fine. You said he forgave you, right?” Lance nodded. “Good, you’ve made progress. He agreed to come, he doesn’t hate you. Gees, I feel like I’ve to calm you down a gazillion times this week. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, totally fine, 100% fine. Now let’s get going, we’ve gotta pick everyone up still.”

By the time they reached Pidge’s house, Lance was once again extremely anxious for how the night would play out.

“What’s up bitches.” Pidge called out as they walked over to the car. “Who’s ready for an evening full of  whatever it is we’re doing.”

“You mean the festival of lights?” Lance asked

“Ah right, the festival of lights. A show meant to be enjoyed in full color.”

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I forgot you were the only one of us who still has monochromia. I feel really bad now, like we’re rubbing it in your face.”

“Don’t feel bad. I don’t want a soulmate--at least not a romantic one. I’m ace and aro.” Pidge told them.

Hunk smiled, “That’s cool.”

“Yeah,”Lance added. “So you’re okay with coming to the festival of lights with us?”

Pidge rolled their eyes, “Totally. It’ll be fun with or without color.”

The car started and Lance pulled out of Pidge’s yard and started heading in the direction towards Keith’s. Keith had insisted when he first agreed that he could drive himself, but Lance got him to change his mind for completely selfless reasons of wanting to save the environment rather than actually wanting to be in Keith’s company because Lance would never admit that to his stupidly perfect stupid face.

Cave Creek was a fairly small town so everything was in a 15 mile radius, meaning it did not take long to get to Keith’s house. He lived closest to the site of the festival, which was in the town square. Pulling onto the street his house was on, Lance hollered to Pidge in the backseat, “Text him we’re here.”

“On it.” Pidge replied.

Lance pulled into Keith’s driveway and was amazed by how quickly Keith was out the door and headed towards Lance’s car. 

And as much as it pained Lance to admit it, Keith looked good.

He had ditched his signature cropped red monstrosity in favor of a black leather jacket over a tight dark grey tee-shirt. Lance tried (and failed) to avoid looking at the outline of Keith’s lean muscles he could see through the shirt. He wore tight black skinny jeans, and the shoes on his feet--the only pop of color in his entire outfit--were bright red combat boots.

But what got Lance the most was the fact today, Keith’s usual-straight-out-of-the-80’s mullet was pulled into a ponytail on top of Keith’s head. 

And Lance couldn’t help but stare at it.

It was just so _fucking cute._

 _Damn,_ Lance thought as he continued to stare at Keith’s appearance, his jaw almost dropped at the sight of his friend.

Hunk hit him as Keith neared the car, and Lance glanced down, his cheeks flushed.

 _Soulmate,_ Lance remembered, _you have a fucking soulmate out there… and so does Keith, even if it is unrequited. Don’t do this to your soulmate,_ he told himself.

 _It’s not like they’ve come clean or anything,_ the other part of Lance’s brain seemed to respond, _there’s no harm in looking._

But Lance could tell that was completely untrue, because Keith was his friend. One he had only recently made up with after messing up so badly. Lance didn’t need his confusing feelings getting in the way of that. And anyways, it was only attraction, right?

Lance didn’t speak until Keith had gotten into the car and they were well on their way to the festival. Hunk rose one of his eyebrows at Lance (something Lance actually could not do), which Lance responded to with a glare. 

Hunk chuckled which caused both Pidge and Keith to direct their attention towards Hunk.

“What’s so funny?” asked Pidge, but the way she said it seemed like she already knew.

“Oh nothing.” Lance responded for Hunk, who was sitting in the passenger's seat trying not to laugh.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.” Hunk told them. “Inside joke.”

Keith and Pidge both seemed to accept that as the answer, and turned towards each other in favor of talking to one another. Lance tried to tune into what they were saying, but when he realized it was conspiracy related, he decided to turn on the radio.

Lance flipped through the stations as they continued towards the Town Square, pausing when he heard the words “Shakira, Shakira.” spoken on the radio as the beat dropped in. At that, him and Hunk started their rendition of _Hips Don’t Lie,_ complete with Lance’s cuban accent on full display and dance moves him and hunk had created in the seventh grade for the middle school talent show.

It was an unspoken rule between them that whenever _Hips Don’t Lie_ they had to re-enact their performance, no matter where they were.

Pidge and Keith exchanged confused glances as Lance and Hunk continued to sing at full volume, but laughed as Lance tried to shake his hips as he sat driving. As the song tapered off, Keith giggled, “What even was that?”

“The best cover of _Hips Don’t Lie_ you’ll ever experience, my friend.” Lance said with a flourish.

Lance watched in the rearview mirror as Keith rolled his eyes, “That was a lot of things Lance, but it definitely wasn’t the best cover, maybe the most entertaining, you guys were practically screaming.”

“You kind of have to, it’s a belting song.” Hunk chimed in as Lance nodded in agreement.

“No arguments there.” Keith replied.

The rest of the ride passed quickly and amicably, everyone joining in one large conversation to get to know one another better. By the time they arrived at their destination, they all felt more comfortable around each other, and closer too.

As they walked into the park, Keith and Lance fell in step with each other behind their other two friends.  The two boys carted blankets in their arms, prepared to set up shop wherever Pidge and Hunk decided.

“Of course we got stuck on carrying duty. No one can see my charming smile behind this quilted prison.” Lance joked to Keith.

“Don’t forget about my dazzling eyes. Whoever can appreciate them if they’re hidden under these cotton monstrosities.” Keith replied back.

Lance snorted at the joke. It was all so much better now that Keith and him could be friendly towards each other. Why hadn’t he thought to be friends sooner?

Unfortunately, as they laughed along the path, they neglected to see where they were going and ran straight into their stopped friends. The jolt surprised them both into dropping their cargo and falling to the ground.

“Goddamn it guys, you had one job!” Pidge laughed as they stumbled back to their feet to collect the blankets.

Hunk laughed alongside her. “Well, at least we reached our destination in one piece. Quite honestly, I'm surprised they made it this far at all.”

“Oh shut up you two. It was your own fault for stopping. So is this where you wanna sit?” Lance asked.

“Yup. According to all of our extensive calculations, this is the perfect viewing spot. Clear view of the sky, close enough that we can walk over to the food trucks or bathrooms or whatever, but far enough away that people won’t bother us.” Pidge grinned.

Lance and Keith quickly laid the blankets down, and all four collapsed onto their backs to look at the sky. It was right around dusk, so the sun was just about to disappear, leaving the landscape the color of fire, oranges and pinks coating the western skyline, while the dark inky blue slowly permeated through it.

As the night sky fully unfolded before him, Lance had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Something about this scenario felt like it had happened before. Lance glanced around him, trying to put his finger on why he felt this way. He stared up into the clear night sky, with all the constellations on full display. He felt so insignificant in that moment, staring up at the ever-expanding universe. And in that moment, something clicked. A memory began to resurface. 

_“_ _It’s the North Star…..bright”_

_“....constellations?”_

_“....I’ve swum through seas of stars."_

 

But as quick as the memory came, it passed, leaving Lance with more questions than answers. He tried to voice his newfound discovery to the group, but before he had the chance, a burst of color exploded in the air before him.

It was beautiful. The first one was orange, it reached its apex and then popped into countless sparks, turning pink then violet as it fell back down.

The next was purple, then blue, then red. The colors starting to blur together, dancing through the night in a whirlwind that swept Lance up in its beauty. 

There were all sorts of different types of fireworks, some contained multiple colors, some just one. Some burst numerous times, others simply popped then disapperated into the night air. Some would split into ten bursts, then those would split into twenty bursts. Some would linger in the air, while others simply disappeared altogether quickly. 

All in all, it was mesmerizing.

The colors flashed, the fireworks burst, and Lance was left staring at the wonder of it all. 

As the last of the fireworks went off, Lance stayed staring up at the sky, the canvas to the whole painting he had witnessed. 

“The sea of stars.” He whispered to himself. “How fitting.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Keith watched the light show with a newfound appreciation. He typically strayed away from anything like this, large crowds, loud noises, bright lights. But tonight, he let himself enjoy it. It was true, in full color, the show was magnificent.

He watched the colors explode and morph in the sky, intertwining themselves in with the starry backdrop. 

He could feel the reminiscence in the air. How similar it all was to that first night under the stars, but dwelling on that wasn’t going to fix anything. He threw the thought out of his mind and simply enjoyed the display. 

Oddly enough, it put him at peace, surrounded by those he could now call friends, experiencing new vibrant colors, it all felt surreal. Keith let himself bask in the stale night air and just listen to everything around him, taking it all in.

He could hear the crickets chirping, the owls flying between the trees. He could hear people in the distance, laughing and chatting as they watched the show. He focused in on the fireworks, the bursts of sound that accompanied the colors. He listened as they petered out, slowly ending the night.

And then it was silent. Except for a few words he could barely make out.

“Sea of Stars.”

Keith froze. There was no way he heard that. He shook his head and covered his eyes. _Stop thinking about him. It’s time you got over him._

He was torn out of his thoughts by the loud cheer than erupted from Pidge, Lance, and Hunk.

“Wooh! That was amazing!” Lance yelled, and was quickly seconded by Pidge.

“My god, that was breathtaking! Do you think they’d let me set off some of those next year? I think I could make my own too! How awesome would that be! I could design my own color set that could create a picture large enough to cover the whole sky! I mean someone would have to help me with the colors since… you know.”

Hunk joined in, “That would be awesome! I could help engineer the launching sequence, and help with the production of them too! Think about all the planning that could go into this. We could probably even make a profit off of this!”

“I like the way you’re thinking! We could be rich! Ok, I’ll get on that as quickly as possible. We could have our first prototype by the end of next week!”

“Guys,” Lance interrupted, “I love the idea, but the show isn’t over yet.” He grinned. “Keith, come with me so we can go get the lanterns.”

“The lanterns?” The entire group looked quizzically in his direction.

“I don’t remember any lanterns last year.” Hunk piped up.

“Well they did change the routine this year, but I didn’t hear about any lanterns. What are they even for?” Pidge asked

“Don’t tell me you guys didn’t know about it. It’s like that scene from tangled where their like ‘and at last I see the light’” Lance sung in horrible high pitched rendition. “And you know, Rapunzel's all like ‘heck yeah I just fulfilled my dream, and I’m falling in love?’ Ya know, cause she did the lantern thingy?” Lance glanced at the others, who were still staring at him confused. He gasped dramatically, “You heathens haven’t seen _Tangled_ ? You know what throw out your plans for next weekend cause we are totally watching it _and_ the spinoff animated series! Anyways, Keith accompany me to retrieve the lanterns.”

They returned a few short minutes later, each carrying two lanterns, a couple slips of paper, some pieces of string, and a few pens.

“What are the pieces of paper for?” Pidge questioned.

“Well, before you light your lantern, you write down a hope you have, or a wish, or a secret, whatever you want really. And then you tie it to the lantern, and you light it. The lantern will float away, and take whatever you wrote with it, and it’s supposed to make your wishes come true.” Lance explained.

Keith stood watching as they all grabbed their corresponding paper, lantern, string,  and pen, and began writing their wishes. Keith didn’t know what to wish for. It seemed he wasn’t the only one though.

Lance stood deliberating what to write too. It seemed to take a couple of minutes to decide, but he managed to figure out something. Keith on the other hand, was still figuring it out.

He thought for a few more minutes before finally writing down his wish. And he was happy with it, and that was all that mattered.

He tied it to his lantern and turned back to the group. He pulled out a lighter and offered it to Pidge, who was standing next to him. They took it and lit the bottom of their lantern, then handed the lighter to Hunk, who in turn handed it to Lance, and then lastly back to Keith.

They all looked at each other, before silently nodding and releasing their lanterns into the sky, joining the rest of the park.

They stood staring, as their wishes floated up to join all the others, illuminating the sky.

Keith wasn’t sure when it had happened, but when he looked down, he was holding hands with Pidge and Lance. He smiled to himself, before looking back up into the night.

“What did you wish for?” 

Keith glanced back down to look beside him. It was Lance who had asked the question, a smirk on his face.

“Well, I can’t tell you. Otherwise it won’t come true.”

“Fair enough.” Lance whispered. “I hope it was a good one.”

Keith decided it was.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Pidge wished for a scholarship opportunity.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Hunk wished for his friends to all grow closer.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lance wished for everyone he cares about to find happiness.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Keith wished that he and everyone he cares about could stay safe.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Or did they wish that? Those were some of the thoughts that went through their minds. But were those the wishes they settled on? Did they wish for something selfish? Something Selfless? Did they wish for something material? Something figurative? I guess we’ll never know. Wishes are supposed to remain secret, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (Late) Fourth of July!
> 
> We got the idea for the fireworks and lanterns, hoping to post of on the fourth of july but clearly that didn't happen so here we are two weeks late with fireworks and an abundance of tangled references.
> 
> Hope everyone enjoys the chapter.


	8. Turn Up the Crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> we are so so sorry about how late this is. School is kicking both my and gsrtauctez's asses and we haven't had much time to write. I wish I could say we'll get a regular schedule but I honestly really doubt it. Thanks for sticking with us though.
> 
> WARNING: This chapter contains mentions to Keith's suicide attempt
> 
> Also, just because I can shamelessly promote my other fics here it goes: 
> 
> If you guys watch BNHA you should check out my fic Broken Kingdom, Crooked Crowns and I have a Klance one shot (soon to be a series) We Had to Fall Apart to Begin Again.
> 
> \- vividmemories

Things changed over the next few weeks.

Keith and Pidge started sitting with Lance and Hunk at lunch almost every day. Keith usually came fifteen or twenty minutes late into the lunch period, always, without fail, with dirt-stained hands. Lance occasionally had the idea to offer Keith help during lunchtime in the rooftop garden, but always seemed to chicken-out right before asking.

Sure, they were friends now but Keith seemed like the type of person to want to have their own safe space and Lance didn’t want to encroach.

Pidge and Hunk wasted their lunchtime each day discussing new developments in the tech world, and once Keith would come sit with them, Lance would propose an idiotic challenge. Keith would grimace but always agree with a small smile, while Pidge and Hunk would share a laugh over their ‘rivalry’.

Lance, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge were in the middle of a heated discussion of cryptids and extraterrestrial life, when Hunk had a genius idea, “We should do a group sleepover!”

Lance pumped his fist in the air, “That sounds great!” He turned to Keith, “You in?”

“Uh… maybe.” Keith replied uncomfortably.

Pidge jumped in, “Cmon Keith, this'll be awesome. We haven’t had a sleepover in so long, and the ones, when we were younger, were always ruined by Matt and Shiro.”

Keith made a disgusted noise, “True, they would never leave us alone.”

Pidge laughed, “Yeah. I still can’t believe they thought we were dating.”

“Wait?!” Lance paused, “Shiro and Matt thought you two were dating.”

Keith blushed, “I hadn’t come out as gay yet to Shiro and they apparently thought Pidge liked me or something so they would never leave us alone. They would always make us keep the door open and stuff like we were going to start making out or something.” 

“Gross,” Pidge said. “I can’t even imagine you putting your tongue anywhere close to mine… I might throw up.”

“Same,” Keith replied in discomfort. They both gulped in disgust, and Lance could see their faces shift as the terrifying image corroded their brains. Pidge made a face at the sheer thought of making out with Keith while Keith just slumped into his seat, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute.

Lance awkwardly laughed, “I can’t believe they thought you were straight and Pidge could have romantic or sexual feelings towards someone.” 

Pidge nodded, “Heteronormativity for the win.”

“True that.” Hunk replied, to which two eyes looked at him in confusion.

“Panromantic but straight. It’s so hard to explain to people that usually I stop trying.” Lance patted Hunk’s back in sympathy.

“Yeah. Fuck that man.” Lance told him. “I actually told my parents my soulmates a guy just so I didn’t have to deal with them saying ‘it’s just a phase’ and that I’m straight because my soulmate happens to be a girl. Just cause my soulmate may be a girl doesn’t make me any less bi, you know?”

“I get it. The second anyone asks me about my soulmate and I say I don’t have one, they get super uncomfortable and always say they’re sorry for me. They all give me the dirtiest looks when I say I don’t actually want a romantic soulmate. People can be assholes.” Pidge commented. 

The rest of them nodded in agreement at Pidge’s statement. The reality was that even though the country’s gotten much better about LGBTQ matters, none of them could disagree with the statement that there was still a long way to go. Even Lance’s own parents avoided the subject of his sexuality, never mentioning it and using female pronouns every single time they talk about Lance’s soulmate or other relationships.

  
They were so happy when Lance had started dating Nyma. He had come out to his parents a few months beforehand and things had gotten extremely hostile around the house. So much so, that Lance latched onto the first girl he found who was interested, and by the end of the month, he and Nyma were dating.

His parents were thrilled with the new development, they almost immediately invited her over for family dinners. Lance had even overheard his mom tell his dad late one night that she hopes Lance would love her more than his soulmates, for the sheer possibility of his soulmate being a guy. 

After that, Lance decided he would do anything in his power for his family to know how bi he is.

He had a giant bisexual pride flag ordered to his house which he hung in his room and would constantly talk about the GSA meetings he went to during school. He would make sure to fawn over hot guys on television, making lewd comments loudly so his parents could hear.

Although his parents were unaccepting, all of his siblings rallied to his defense, and they all became closer because of it. He didn’t get to come out to Luis or Rachel, his parents took that away from him.

He can still clearly remember the shouts he heard from up in his room after his parents had told Luis. They were talking in hushed Spanish but the harsh words did not escape Lance’s ears. He could hear them saying how disappointed they were and how they did not know what they would do if his soulmate was male. Then Luis started shouting at them for what they were saying, yelling that they should be ashamed of themselves. By that time, Lance had already climbed through his bedroom window and down to the ground, already running in the direction of Hunk’s house, sobbing violently as the cold wind of winter hit his face.

“Lance?” Pidge nudged him with their foot, “Are you alright?”

Lance shook out of his downward spiral, “Oh. Yeah, just lost in thought, I guess.”

Pidge looked concerned but didn’t push any further.

“So how about it, buddy?” Hunk asked.

“What?” Lance answered.

Keith rolled his eyes, “Sleepover, dumbass.”

Lance, like the true gentleman he is, flipped Keith off, “Oh right. When?”

“Friday night? My house?” Hunk told him, and Lance nodded.

“Sure, sounds fun.”

“Okay, guys. My house, Friday around 6:00.”

  
  


* * *

 

 

The rest of the week flew by in a blur.

Keith and Pidge kept sitting with Hunk and Lance at lunch. Every so often, Allura and Lotor would join for a few minutes before scampering off with bad excuses, giggling and holding hands as they rushed out of the cafeteria.

Keith would leave during lunch to go up to the rooftop, but most of the plants were starting to take their toll with the weather. It was late-October and with most of the plants recovering from their own summer bloom, Keith found himself lying on the roof, lost in thought rather than gardening. 

Things between him and Lance seemed civil, or at least as civil they could be. The moment they had shared (if you could call it a moment, Keith is  _ very  _ prone to reading into things) at the Festival of Lights still burned in the back of Keith’s mind. They joked around with each other good-naturedly, hadn’t got in an argument (other than the petty competition) for weeks, and were constantly around one another.

Keith was getting comfortable with the idea of having Lance around. 

Too comfortable.

Which, for one,  _ sucked _ because he was trying his hardest to get over Lance.

And Keith would have moments where he finally thought he had done it, just for Lance to smile at him or make a dumb joke or a comment about soulmates for Keith to fall back in, harder than the last. It wasn’t like Keith was  _ in love  _ with Lance or anything, but it’s hard to rearrange the mental picture of what you always thought you’d have with your soulmate.

Still, Keith was trying his damned hardest to remove that picture from his mind or any memory of Lance  _ laughing _ or  _ Singing  _ or  _ talking  _ or  _ smiling.  Ugh.  _ Nope, that plan sure wasn’t working. Especially with the boy in question seated directly behind him. And said boy would be having a sleepover with him that night. 

When the last bell of the day finally rang, Keith bolted out of his seat along with the rest of his class and made a beeline for the door.

“Yo mulletman! Slow your roll, I’m still packing up over here.” Lance called out.

Keith winced as we turned away from the door to face Lance again.

“And why should I have to wait for you? I still have to go grab my things from my house, and then be over to Hunks by 4:30. That doesn’t give me much time. ‘Sides I’ll see you there anyway.”

“Well, mister “I have to be on time” your punctuality won’t be affected by three extra minutes, I can guarantee that.” Lance scoffed. “Honestly, it’s like you don’t even care about me.” He finished packing his bag and grabbed Keith’s arm as he ran out of the classroom.

“Hey! What gives?” Keith ripped his arm out of Lance’s grip, “Geez, you nearly yanked my shoulder out of its socket!”

“Sorrysorry. My bad, you were taking too long.” He told Keith with a pouty look.

Keith rolled his eyes but gives in, “C’mon get your stuff. I guess I could wait a few more minutes.”

Lance gave the other boy a wide grin before exiting the classroom. The two walked in step until they reached Lance’s locker, who expertly opened the lock and haphazardly through books in his backpack. 

“Lance, I was just looking for you. Pidge invited me to your little slumber party tonight, and I was wondering if you would be kind enough to give me a ride.” A smooth voice asked.

Lance turned away from Keith towards Allura, “Yeah sure, Princess. I’d love to.”

Keith felt a churn in his stomach. He  _ knew  _ that Allura was happily dating Lotor, but something about the way he casually flirted with her, as if it meant nothing to him was unsettling. 

Allura thanked Lance with a bright smile before giving him a quick hug, “See you, boys, later!”

She disappeared down the hallway, meeting Lotor halfway and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Princess, huh?” Keith asked, trying not to let the jealousy lace his voice, as he watched his soulmate still staring after her.

“Oh.” Lance turned back towards Keith with a blush, “It’s just an inside joke.”

“Sure…” Keith gave him an unamused smile.

“What’s that tone for?” Lance asked hastily.

“It’s just… she has a soulmate.” He told Lance, “And so do you. So why flirt with her?”

Lance gave Keith an odd look, “I don’t know. I guess… it’s just a reflex--flirting. I don’t know why I do it all the time, I just do.” he finished lamely.

_ But why doesn’t he do it with me?  _ Keith thought bitterly before telling his brain to shut the fuck up.

Ignoring his wandering thoughts, Keith said, “I gotta go, I’ll see you tonight. There are a couple of things I gotta do before Hunk’s.”

“Okay, remember. 5:30 sharp.” Keith nodded and turned away, getting halfway down the hallway when he heard Lance shout, “See you then, Mullet!” 

Keith turned around at the sound and tried to hide the grin breaking out at his face. The effort was useless seeing as Lance grinned just as widely back at Keith and gave him a mock salute before turning to walk in the other direction, towards the back parking lot. 

Keith headed towards the main lobby of the school and out to the parking lot. He got onto Red, his motorcycle, revved the engine and sped away.

Although he mostly told Lance he had things to do before Hunk’s as an excuse to get the furthest away from the cause of the erratic beating of his heart, he didn’t lie.

The entire week, though it went smoothly, took way too much energy, and by the time it was over he felt suffocated. 

He needed some time to himself before heading to Hunks.

That’s how Keith found himself, once again, at the old toll bridge sitting on one of the wooden railings overlooking the shallow stream below.

Keith didn’t know how long he spent there, sitting still watching as the unpredictable currents rushed under his feet and listening to the soft hum of nature.

It was calming.

It made everything seem a bit slower, something Keith was grateful for. When days blur together, everything gets too fast and overwhelming, and the only relief was to find a place Keith could just  _ breathe.  _

And although the bridge was notorious for tragedy, and maybe once upon of time Keith coming here had to do with the feelings in his chest that would never  _ fucking  _ go away, the fact it had nothing to do with that was a testament to how far Keith had come since that night three years ago.

It had taken Shiro months after what happened, to even let Keith out of the house.

During those months, Pidge would come over almost every day and they’d play video games for hours. Matt would come too, to hang out with Shiro, who were roommates in college and best friends ever since. It ended up with Keith having a super embarrassing crush on Matt for like a year and a half (even though he apparently thought he and Pidge were dating), up until Matt met his own soulmate, a pretty girl named Lilah.

No one ever found out about Keith’s crush on Matt, though Keith has a sneaking suspicion Pidge was aware of it given the look they give Keith pretty much every time Matt is mentioned (Keith hopes to god they never told Matt if they did, he could never live it down).

Keith didn’t know how long he spent at the old toll bridge. Long enough to sit there, on the edge of the railing, lost in thought. 

This time, the thoughts swirling in his head were not of depression and anxiety, but rather of hope in the form of a blinding smile and bright blue eyes.

  
  


* * *

 

Afterschool, Lance and Allura had driven around for a while before heading to Hunks.

They made idle small talk, laughing and smiling. 

Allura told him about how she and Lotor were doing (it wasn’t a secret Lotor was kind of an asshole before it was revealed they were soulmates, on top of the fact Lance had a huge crush on Allura for the first few months after she moved to Cave Creek from England). 

“So, what about you and your Soulmate?” Allura asked. “Lotor told me you guys met at his party a few months ago, but couldn’t remember who it was. Do you still not know?”

Lance sighed, “Yeah, I got no clue. The other day, though, I started to remember something… something about stars. So I’m hoping it’s going to start to come back soon.”

“Yeah.” Allura paused. “I wish I could be of more help, the only person I remember seeing you with was Nyma and then Keith.”

“Oh yeah. Keith was a great bud that night, dragging my drunk ass home and letting me stay at his house.” Lance told her, with a soft smile creeping onto his face as he remembered what Keith had done for him.

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Lance. I walked outside to catch my breath and you and Keith were standing on the grass. I honestly thought you guys were about to kiss, you were so close to each other.” Allura smiled.

“What?! Nononono, me and Keith?! Never! He was probably just trying to drag me to the car and I was drunk and thought he was someone else or something… I don’t know. Just not--not that! Me and Him? No, that just could never possibly happen. Like ever, it’d just be… I don’t know. Weird… It’d be--It’d be weird, right?” Lance rambled.

She laid a comforting hand on Lance’s shoulder, “I don’t know Lance. But you have a soulmate out there and Keith definitely has one too, it’s not like it would work. You’re meant to be with whoever they are, everyone is.”

Allura’s words put an uncomfortable knot in Lance’s stomach. 

Her thinking was binary, a hidebound mindset that a large percentage of the world has about soulmates. In the eyes of most people, soulmates were predestined and anyone who went against the word of fate was sinners. It didn’t matter if your soulmate was unrequited, abusive, or in general unhealthy, it was evil and selfish in the eyes of many individuals to go against being with your soulmate.

For a long time, non-soulmate marriages were illegal. 

And although progress has been made on that front, it came slowly and relatively unmoving. So many people share similar viewpoints to Allura due to the fact they are happy with their soulmate and cannot imagine the case being different from other couples.

Yet, Lance still did not say anything to rebuke her offensive comment.

Maybe it was because he did not want to out Keith about having an unrequited soulmate or because he was so focused on trying to ignore the part of his brain still stuck on the thought of him and Keith together.

Either way, he stayed silent.

He idly wondered if the reason he could not say anything to her had to do with his once-upon-a-time small (gigantic) crush on her. 

When Allura had first transferred from Britain to the States at the beginning of Sophomore year, Lance had fallen completely head over heels for her. He actually made an effort to postpone the first time they touched trying to make the moment special because he believed they were soulmates. Not to mention on top of that, she was strikingly beautiful, intimidatingly smart, and insanely nice. 

Once she told him Lotor was her soulmate and Lance completely made an ass out of himself by trying to tell her she was way too good for a guy like him and should be with Lance instead, his crush slowly faded into friendship.

And thankfully, Allura never brought up their painfully awkward conversation again (“oh. I am sorry Lance but I cannot return your feelings, though I am very admired you feel that way. I just feel I must be with my soulmate.”) 

Admittedly, their relationship was probably unhealthy, but Lance felt certain he could change the way Allura thought. But the more time he spent with her the more he lamented. It wasn’t that she was a bad person, it was that society had influenced her in a way that he just couldn’t help. Hopefully, he could prove her wrong one day.

“Lance? Are you alright, you’ve been staring at the windshield pretty intently for a few minutes now.”

Shaking his head, Lance put a smirk back on his face and turned his head towards Allura,

“Sorry babe, I was lost in thought, thinking about our wedding.”

Allura rolled her eyes at the flirtatious comment.

“Alright, keep your secrets. But we should probably start making our way over to Hunks soon. It’s nearly 5:15.”

“Damn. Already?,” Lance muttered, “No worries, all the cool kids show up fashionably late.”

“But didn’t you tell Keith 5:30 sharp? It would be rude not to show up when you told him you would be there.”

“It’s not like I’m not coming, We might just be a little late. Anyways, last check. You sure you have everything you need for tonight.”

Allura immediately brightened at the thought.

“Indeed I do Lance! Oh, how much fun this is going to be. Did you forget anything.”

“Me? Psh no. I always remember everyth--shit! No, you’re totally right. I can’t believe I almost forgot my charming personality.” Lance joked.

Allura once again rolled her eyes before staring out the window.

“Wait. No. Fuck. I forgot my phone charger. And my pajamas. And my toothbrush.

“Well hurry up then! We’ve only got 15 minutes!”

“Hold onto your seatbelt princess, we’re about to disobey some traffic laws.”

“Lance! No! Wait, don’t do that!”

“Too late!” Lance cackled as he gunned down the accelerator. 

And at that moment, Lance took notice of something. During the whole exchange, something had felt different, but it wasn’t until right then that he realized it.  _ I don’t have feelings for her anymore. _

And for some reason, rather than be saddened at the notion, he felt free. 

 

* * *

 

It was 5:30 sharp.

Keith was here.

Lance was not.

Keith was mad.

“Of fucking course that dick would tell me the wrong time. Maybe the sleepover isn’t even today. Maybe it was fucking last week and I missed it and everyone hates me now and it’s all his fault.” Keith grumbled to himself.

He was sitting alone on Red, across the street from the house that was supposedly Hunk’s, but quite honestly it could’ve been anybody's. There were no cars in the driveway or on the street. No clear identifying characteristics. There was nothing for Keith to go off of.

“No, you’re just thinking irrationally. He’s probably just late, everybody’s probably just late. That’s it. All you have to do is ring the doorbell. You can do that. You can do that.”

Without giving himself another moment to doubt himself, Keith swallowed his anxiety and dismounted the motorcycle. He slung his bag onto his back and hopped up the steps.

Now the hard part. 

Keith gazed at the door in front of him and glanced back at his bike before steeling his nerves and ringing the doorbell.

Immediately Keith stepped back, terrified of who could open the door, but before he could even think anything else Hunk’s smiling face stared back at him.

“Keith! Come on in! You’re the first to arrive so we can just chill in the living room until the others arrive with the pizza and stuff.”

“Wait, was I supposed to bring something?” Keith asked panicked.

“No, no. Pidge just volunteered. Said they could get us a discount or something Hunk shrugged.

Keith slapped his hand over his face and groaned, “Ugh. They can’t get a discount. They’ve tried before, but Pidge is just certain that if they try enough times they can somehow brainwash the pizza employee.”

“Wait brainwash?”

“Yeah, they invented this weird method of using a combination of psychology and an app they’re tinkering with that uses a bright light to make people forget things and also displays fake coupons. They call it a neutralyzer.”

“That-- seems very complicated. And dangerous. And illegal.”

“Oh, it is. They’ve been kicked out of 17 different pizza shops, and nearly arrested 5 times. It’s a miracle they don’t have a warrant out for them - ‘Small child wanted for terrorizing and manipulating local pizza shops.’” Keith snorted at his joke.

“Oh boy, that would be hilarious! I mean it would be bad, but it would also be hilarious.”

Just then, the doorbell rang interrupting the conversation.

“Welp, duty calls. Looks like some of the others have arrived.” Hunk said.

The two walked over to the door and opened it to reveal an out of breath Lance and a clearly shaken Allura standing before him.

“He was going fucking 85 miles an hour in a 25-speed zone!” Allura all but screamed.

“Hey, I got us here on time didn’t I?” Lance smiled. He actually seemed to be proud of his law-breaking ways.

Keith totally, didn’t,  _ not at all,  _ think it was cute.

“Welp, guess Pidge isn’t the only criminal in the friend group now,” Keith said under his breath.

Hunk let out a snort before covering his widening grin with his hands.

Allura and Lance looked on in confusion as Hunk leaned over to Keith and whispered, “He’s the get-away man.” causing both boys to start cracking up more.

Lance turned to Allura, “Was it something I said?”

Allura shrugged. She turned back to the Hunk, “Is Pidge here yet?”

“Not yet.” Hunk told her. “They’ll be here eventually.”

“You know Pidge, always late,” Lance added.

That was true. Pidge was always late for things, ever since Keith had met them. It might have been because all of the Holt’s were pretty laid back (except for Coleen), but ever since Keith had met Matt and Pidge, they had always been like that.

Hunk responded, “You’re one to talk, buddy. Remember that field trip last year, we got to the bus by the skin of our teeth and then we missed the trip back from the astrology exhibit because you were too preoccupied, flirting with the tour guide.”

“She was hot, man. Sue me.” Lance laughed and Keith pointedly ignored the knot forming in his chest. “Remember how we got home, hitchhiking and then we ended up--”

“Downtown with the biker gang--”

“Oh my god, that was great. Ahh--and Antonio. He was awesome, you know after he put away the knife.”

Hunk and Lance burst out laughing as they remembered the trip. Keith glanced at Allura, “I’m so confused.”

“I am as well. I’m assuming there’s a story there, though.” She answered.

Keith thought for a moment, “Wait? Which trip was that?”

“Ahh--the astronomy one I think, right Hunk?” Hunk nodded in response to Lances’ inquiries.

“Huh,” Keith said. “I think I was there. I don’t remember you guys though.”

Lance looked at him and put an overdramatic hand to his chest in the offense, “You don’t remember us, mullet. Well let me tell you, I remember you. All broody and emo, sitting in the back talking to no one with those damn headphones jacked in your ears. And then… I don’t know. I don’t think I saw you while we were in the museum. Everyone kinda went off on their own.”

“I remember. I just wandered around, I didn’t really know anyone back then.” That was true when Keith came to school after missing it for a while after, Keith didn’t really know anyone other than Pidge and he was too nervous to make friends.

And on top of that, Keith was pretty sure Lance hated him (Lance told him as much) before they had really become dare-he-say-it friends at the start of this year.

 

 

* * *

They made idle small talk for a while, joking and laughing, Lance and Hunk reminiscing about different memories and stories from the past couple years. They had been best friends for so long, Lance didn’t even notice Allura and Keith couldn’t keep up with them. Somehow, they had ended up on the opposite side of the room talking without him even noticing. 

Hunk trails off and coughs, as Lance stares particularly long at Keith and Allura's conversation. His mind wondered what the hell they had to talk about and what about it was so engrossing given how close they were together.

“Stop staring dude.”

Lance turned Hunk, “I’m not staring, who would I be staring at?”

“I know you used to like Allura, but dude--she has a soulmate. Give up already.”

“I wasn’t staring at Allura,” Lance told him truthfully.

Hunk gave him a disbelieving look, “Really?”

For a second, Lance thought about arguing with Hunk that he wasn’t staring at Allura. But then, he decided against that because he didn’t have an argument. He wasn’t staring at anyone. He was just watching Keith and Allura talk, with soft smiles on their faces.

Then, Pidge barged into the house without so much of a knock, yelling “Pizza’s here bitches. Let’s eat.” They tried to do the Vulcan Salute, and the pizza nearly slipped out of their hands. Thankfully, Pidge was more graceful than Lance gave them credit for, and easily regained hold of the pizza, easily balancing it.

“I wasn’t staring at anyone. And I still can’t believe Keith doesn’t remember me.” Lance mumbled under his breath.

Hunk patted Lance’s shoulder as they followed Pidge and the pizza into the kitchen, “I know buddy. I know. Give it up already” 

“So, Pidge. What kind of pizza did you get?”

“I got a few. We have cheese, green peppers and onions, and pineapple and ham for the heathens.” Pidge said as they gave a pointed look towards Keith, who gave them a shit-eating grin.

“Hey!” Lance objected, “Don’t hate on Hawaiian it's not that bad.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a heathen too. It’s an abomination.”

“You’re an abomination.” Lance rebuked lamely.

“Good one, Lance. Real great comeback.” Pidge said dryly as Keith let out a giggle.

Keith giggled, Keith-Emo-McMullet-Kogane fucking  _ giggled,  _ and Lance couldn’t help but stare.

His giggles turned into a full-belly laugh after no time at all, and he seemed to not be able to stop the sound from coming out of his mouth. ”What’s so funny? Why are you laughing?” Allura asked.

“I don’t know, it wasn’t even funny.” Keith wheezed. “I guess I just hadn’t laughed like that in such a long time, I just couldn’t stop.”

Lance could empathize with that, “I get it, man. Sometimes, I just can’t stop laughing for no reason.”

“I think we all get that way sometimes.” Hunk chimed in.

All of them shared a laugh, except for Allura, who remained looking just as confused as before. Then, they dug into the pizza Hunk and Lance shoveling piece after piece into their mouths as Allura and Keith looked at them in horror.

“What?” Lance asked, his mouth full of pizza once he noticed the look on Keith’s face.

“You’re ridiculous,” Keith told him. “How many slices have you had?”

“Six.” Lance’s nose scrunched up as he tried to remember the exact number, “Maybe seven.”

“Wow, Lance,” Allura remarked. “You might want to get those eating habits under control by the time you meet your soulmate. Although they’ll love you despite any flaws, there is no way that is good for your health.” 

While Allura talked, Lance kept his gaze trained firmly on Keith. He watched as Keith continued to flinch every time she used the word soulmate as his eyes would dart around the room before landing on Lance.    
  
Lance gave him a sympathetic look but did not say anything to rebuke Allura’s statement.   _ Again.  _

He was such a coward, Lance could see Keith slinking back towards the wall in shame. He should be able to stand up for his friend, or anyone for that matter who does not have a good relationship with their soulmate.

For all Lance knows, he and his soulmate could end up the exact same way.

  
  


* * *

 

Soon after, the group retreated to Hunk’s basement.

Keith, who now felt more uncomfortable since Allura’s comment about soulmates was trying desperately to camouflage into the walls so he did not have to socialize.    
  
Sadly, Pidge wasn’t one to let Keith get what he wants, so they dragged him to the couch then sat on the floor and leaning their back against Keith’s legs.

Lance entered with snacks, laughing loudly with Allura (which sent another pang into Lance’s chest) before dumping the snacks into a pile on the coffee table.

“So guys, what’re we watching?” Lance said as he collapsed onto the side of Keith.

Hunk walked him, a bunch of movies in hand. “Umm…. so we have Spiderman: Homecoming, Rangnorak, Star Wars, Dumb and Dumber, The Hangover, Pride and Prejudice, and Mean Girls.”

“Star Wars. Obviously.” Pidge yelled.

“I would love to watch Pride and Prejudice. It is such a wonderful movie.” Allura said sitting down on the other side of Lance.   
  


“I love all of them so any of them work.” Lance commented, “Keith?”

“Oh. Umm.” Keith glanced at the movies again. “I’ve seen all of them except Mean Girls so--”

“Wait. Hold up.” Lance nearly screamed as he whipped his head towards Keith. “You’ve never seen Mean Girls. It’s fucking iconic, we have to watch it. Hunk Hunk. Can we canwecanwe?”

“Sure buddy.” Hunk told Lance. “Everyone else?”

They all agreed and Hunk popped the movie in. 

Soon after, he and Allura left to make popcorn as Lance tried to explain how not seeing Mean Girls is a travesty to Keith. They came back, distributed sodas and popcorn before settling down with Allura on the couch and Hunk on the floor before the movie started.

Hunk and Lance pretty much quoted the movie constantly. Hunk even left and returned in a sweatshirt and sunglasses for the according-to-Lance iconic line “She doesn’t even go here.”

Lance would lean over to whisper about every five minutes what Keith thought of the movie. Every time he would come close, Keith hoped the other boy couldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating. Not to mention, how Keith felt at the cliche moment of their hands touching while trying to grab the popcorn. 

What was his life, a fucking romantic comedy?

When the movie ended Lance turned to him and asked for a final time, “So… Keith. Mullet. Did you like it?”

Keith shrugged, “It was okay.”

Lance gasped, “How dare you?! Okay! Just okay? Mean Girls is a cinematic masterpiece and you are calling it just okay?”

“Sheesh, calm down Lance. I’m not a big rom-com fan.” 

“You’re what? How can anyone not like romcoms? You probably watch conspiracy videos in your spare time, right?” Lance told him.

Keith grinned sheepishly.

“Hah, you do?!” Lance yelled.

“Hey, don’t judge. The Mothman documentaries are superb.”

“Yeah, they’re fucking awesome,” Pidge said from their place on the floor.

“Doubt it,” Lance muttered.

“So, what are we doing next?” Allura broke in.

“Board games!” Pidge shouted.

  
  


* * *

 

After a friendship-ending game of monopoly and a few hilarious rounds of Cards Against Humanity, Lance was more than ready to call it a night.

Allura, who did not realize what some of the more risque (i.e. perverted) cards meant, obliviously continued to play as the rest of the group laughed their asses off.

Snuggling into his sleeping bag (Keith didn’t bring one so as the gentleman he was, Lance let Keith and Pidge share the couch), Lance asked in a quiet tone “So what do we do now?”

“Usually. This would be the part when we talk about boys and secrets.” Allura said from her own luscious pink sleeping bag.

“Ooh,” Lance said with interest. “Gossip my favorite. Pidge anything?”

“Still Ace Lance.” 

“Right right, knew that. Hunk my man, where is your lovely lady Shay?”

“Her parents don’t want her spending the night for obvious reasons. But we're good, our two year anniversary is coming up soon and I want to do something special. She’s usually the romantic in the relationship so I want to surprise her.” Hunk said fondly.

Allura made a cooing sound, “Aww… you want to be romantic. Maybe you could take her on a picnic under the stars.”

“You’re a great cook. I’m sure she’d love a homemade picnic.” Lance chimed in.

“Thanks, guys,” Hunk smiled. “That’s actually a great idea. So who’s next?”

“Allura?”

“Oh. Lotor and I are well, I think. We don’t go on dates very much, which isn’t great, but I think it’s just because we have such busy schedules with my duties as student body president and head cheerleader.”

Hunk sighed in empathy, “That sucks. I’m sorry you guys don’t get much quality time together. Shay and I are that way too. But if you put in the effort to go on a date once or twice a month, it’ll make a good difference in your relationship, trust me.”

“Thank you for the advice. I think that would help.” Allura said. “What about you Keith? You haven’t met your soulmate yet have you?”

“Umm… oh well. Well… you see.” Keith blushed, his eyes darting frantically around the room, “No. I haven’t.” He finally finished.

Lance and Hunk both knew Keith was lying and from the looks of it, so did Pidge. Pidge was giving him a curious glance, with the silent question of  _ why lie?  _

“Oh. That’s fine.” Allura started. “I’m sorry to have made you uncomfortable. I’m sure you’ll meet them soon. And then everything will fall perfectly into place like a fairytale. That’s what soulmates are, someone who completes you.”

That notion send a pit into Lance’s stomach. And from what he could tell, it sent one in Keith's too who looked so uncomfortable.

Pidge broke in glaring harshly at Allura, “I don’t think soulmates complete you, cause’ that’d be saying we are not whole human beings on our own.”

“I agree,” Hunk added. “With me and Shay, it’s not like I wasn’t whole or me before I met her. It’s just--now, I feel like I want to be a better guy for her. That’s what love--it doesn’t have to be soulmates--is supposed to do.”

“Doesn’t have to be soulmates?” Allura questioned. “Soulmates are who we are fated to be with though. How could someone knowingly take away someone else’s soulmate?”

“Does it matter?” Pidge glared. “Fate shouldn’t dictate who a person should be able to fall in love with, the same way race, religion, and gender shouldn’t either.”

“True.” Hunk agreed. “I think it’s just if you find someone that is like that for you, it shouldn’t matter. Because finding a love like that, it’s special. No matter who you are.”

Lance nodded in agreement while Allura still looked uncomfortable with the conversation. 

Keith sat quiet.

“So Pidge, what were you saying about that Robot to Hunk earlier?” Lance asked to change the subject for Keith’s sake.

“Robot?” Pidge questioned, before quickly realizing that Lance wanted to cover for Keith. “Yes, yes the robot! I forgot to tell you, Keith, I made a robot that tracks you.”

Keith immediately turned to face Pidge with a quizzical expression, “I’m sorry, what the fuck did you just say?”

“I, Pidge, created a robot whose prime objective was to locate you in the case of an emergency.”

“What exactly constitutes an emergency to you?” Keith narrowed his eyes at his close friend.

“I’m going to leave that an open-ended question and say - I think it’s more what doesn’t constitute an emergency.”

Lance laughed out loud at the face Keith made, somewhere between scared, angry, and a little bit of intrigue. In fact, he laughed so hard he began choking as the others stared on in amusement.

“You okay there Lance?” Keith asked, genuinely concerned.

“Fine, fine, I’m fine.” Lance coughed out. “Think I could use some water though.”

“Okay, I’ll get you some,” Keith replied nonchalantly. As he stood he noticed everyone’s eyes on him with blank expressions. “What? What’s the matter with you guys?”

It ended up being Lance who replied to the other boy, “It’s just. You never really do anything for me. You kinda seem to hate me.”

“I think we’ve moved past hate, but if you really don’t want that water-”

“No! No, I’ll take the offer. Here, I’ll even go with you, I wanted a snack anyway.”

And as the two boys exited the room, Lance could have sworn he heard Pidge mutter something about “One way or another you’ll get that snack.”

In the kitchen with the lights out always felt so surreal, especially in silence. Lance felt compelled to fill that silence.

“Hey, Keith I’m really sorry.”

“Lance, you’ve already apologized enough, there’s nothing left to apologize for.”

“No, no you didn’t let me finish. I’m apologizing on behalf of Allura. I know that what she said made you uncomfortable. Her views are a bit traditional, and I know how she seems, but she really is a sweet person. It’s just a fucked-up society we were raised in.”

It was quiet for a moment before Keith finally spoke.

“I know she doesn’t mean it maliciously. It just hurts for someone to say, even if they don’t know the context, that you don’t deserve love.” 

It was quiet another moment before Keith handed Lance his water.

“Thanks.” Lance mumbled, lost in thought.

He didn’t like seeing Keith like this. He was just about to say something else to try and take his mind off of things when Keith spoke up.

“You know, it means a lot how you’ve incorporated Pidge and me into your group. And I know Allura is your friend, and I know your covering for her.” 

As soon as Keith said that, Lance was taken aback. Covering for her? No! Her views are completely unjustified and backwater. He would never in a million years try and take her standpoint on this issue, it was just wrong.

Lance cut off the rest of what Keith was saying, “I’m not covering for her or anything. I don’t condone what she said and I certainly don’t agree with it.”

“Then why didn’t you argue with her like Hunk and Pidge?” Keith asked. “You seemed to agree with it, or at least be justifying it.”

Lance looked ashamed and thought for a moment, “I don’t know why.” He paused as if trying to pick his words carefully. “Allura is… I don’t know. I know she’s wrong and in my mind, I disagree with her and want to stand up against her. But every time I try, I just can’t seem to get my mouth to fucking speak. I want to but it’s like the second I try, I just can’t. Nothing comes out.”

“And I am not trying to justify her words,” Lance continued, “I’m sorry if it seemed that way, Keith. I just… I’m not good at standing up to people. I never have been. I’m not brave.” His words turned to a mumbled, “Not like you. I can’t just say what’s on my mind all the time. I just get anxious and scared and run away. Or say nothing.”

Keith looked astonished at Lance’s words, “You think I’m brave? Really?”

“Of course. You’re not afraid of being anything but you emo-mullet self.”

“But I’m so anxious all the time too. I’ve lived in Cave Creek for almost four years and you’re the second friend I’ve made after Pidge.  I’m not brave. Just a little bit better at being able to pretend I don’t give a fuck.”

“I wish.” Then Lance’s voice shifted to an overdramatic imitation, probably of some character from a movie Keith had never seen, “Teach me your ways, Samurai.”

“There’s not anything to teach. You’re perfect, and you just have to own it.” Keith froze as soon as the words left his mouth. “I- I mean that like  _ everyone  _ is perfect, and they should all just be themselves, not you specifically. Not that you shouldn’t feel comfortable in your own skin, you should!”

Lance laughed at the outburst, a warm feeling spreading through his chest as Keith fumbled his way through a compliment. “It’s okay, I get it. Be yourself, own who you are, you are amazing. I’ve heard all that advice before. It’s just a bit harder to put the thoughts into actions.”

Keith’s face fell a bit as he turned away from Lance. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean. To be honest I’m garbage at giving advice. Those are just the phrases Shiro taught me to think whenever I was feeling insecure. Lot a good they did me.”

Lance empathized with what Keith was saying, and if he was implying what Lance thought he was implying, well, Lance would not stand for any more negativity.

“Keith, my man, those phrases aren’t meaningless. They are powerful, I just mean it’s difficult to change mindsets. But it can be done, and I will do it to prove you right. Or wrong. To be honest I’m not really sure your standpoint on the matter. Regardless,  _ both _ of us will follow those phrases religiously. Because we  _ are _ worth it.”

Keith smiled wanly. “Thanks, Lance. It seems you’re already progressing. See, it’s not that hard. To be honest the only reason I seem so confident is that I literally ignore everything. If you don’t acknowledge it, you can’t feel bad about it.”

“Well, that was certainly a weight off the chest, wouldn’t you say?” Lance tried to lighten the mood. “I feel closer to you, like we just passed a friendship level, ya know?”

Keith turned to face the boy beside him, “Haha, yeah I guess. You could say we had a bonding moment.”

“Yeah,” Lance grinned at Keith, “I guess we did.”

After Lance grabbed a snack, the pair headed back into the den. When they got back, Allura seemed to have fallen asleep. Hunk and Pidge were whispering between themselves, probably about science since Pidge only goes that googly-eyed over quantum mechanics.

He settled down into his sleeping bag as Keith scootched Pidge over so he was able to have part of the couch.

Pidge and Hunk noticing their return turned towards them, “You guys were in the kitchen for an awfully long time.” Pidge cackled.

Keith rolled his eyes, “We had a bonding moment, right Lance?”

“Don’t remember--didn’t happen,” Lance said, red covering his cheeks because of Keith’s so blunt response.

Hunk and Pidge laughed at Lance’s comment while Keith pouted.

His lips drew together in curved lines, so different from the way his face usually was, all sharp edges and mean glares. 

_ Cute _ , Lance thought.

With a scoff, Lance tried to send that thought into the deepest part of his mind and never let it escape. Cause, no Keith was not cute. Maybe attractive. Aesthetically speaking. And hot, if you didn’t include his obnoxious personality.

Except recently Keith has found out his personality is not obnoxious, he’s actually really cool.

But  _ not  _ cute, anything but cute.

“I’m going to bed,” Lance announced loudly before rolling over in his sleeping bag and burying his head into the pillow, attempting to ignore the part of his brain still racing and making him feel red all over his body.

“Okay,” Hunk mumbled sleepily before yawning and falling down onto his sleeping bag.

There were a few minutes of silence in which Lance thought everyone had started falling asleep when he heard a voice, “Do you think they’re asleep?” Pidge asked.

“I think so,” Keith whispered. “What is it?”

“I was just wondering, are you okay?” Pidge said, worriedness lacing their voice.

Lance could hear Keith shuffling around on the couch as he and Pidge rearranged themselves, “I’m fine. Why’d you ask?”

“I’m just worried,” Pidge said.

“You have no need to be,” Keith replied.

“That’s what you said last time!” Pidge whisper-shouted.

_ Last time?  _ Lance thought.

Keith sighed, “Pidge. Can we not?”

“No, Keith. You always avoid it when I want to talk about what happened. I know you, you’re my best friend and I’m so fucking terrified you're going to fall back down that pit again.”

“I’m not going to Pidge, I’m not.”

“You say that but all your soulmate shit is so fucked up right now. I’m scared he’s going to be the reason you're going to get depressed again.”

“He would never be the reason. He’s too--I don’t know--but even though it's unrequited, he would never do something to consciously hurt me. We’ve talked it out, he knows I have a lot of problems.” Keith told them.

Pidge sighed, “Does he know about that night?”

“No.”

“Will you ever tell him?”

“I doubt it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes you do, Keith. Tell me why you won’t tell him.”

“Why do you care Pidge? Telling him about what happened isn’t going to change anything. It’s not going to make him love me out of pity, so what’s the fucking point. None of you--Matt, Shiro, even you--look at me the same now. And I can handle it from you guys, but not from him. I don’t want to make him hate me any more than he does now.”

“He’s not going to hate you because of it.”

“Why not? I do.”

“Don’t fucking say that. Keith, you’re my best friend and I can’t go through that again. Please don’t make me go through it again. I can’t fucking get that call again. Not from Shiro. Not that you tried to fucking jump off a bridge and kill yourself.” Pidge quietly sobbed. “I love you, Keith. I love you. You’re important and I love you and you need to be here. And I know, I know--he would never hate you for it. You’re so brave, Keith. I just want you to feel good about yourself again. I want you to love yourself like I and Adam and Shiro and Matt love you.”

Keith’s voice quivered as he whispered, “Thank you Pidge. I love you too.”

_ Keith tried to kill himself?!  _ Lance’s brain screamed as he put the pieces together.

They stayed quiet for a while after that and Lance thought that the pair had fallen asleep. But right about sleep was about to overtake himself, he heard Pidge whisper, “If he doesn’t accept you, he’s a fool. I know you don’t think he loves you or that you don’t deserve it, but Keith you do. You’re so fucking easy to love. Don’t forget that.”

Lance didn’t know if they kept taking, but the voices lulled together and everything faded into a calm, sleep-filled nothingness.

  
  


* * *

~~~~  


 

Lance was awoken by a buzz.

 

Feeling around for his phone, Lance pulled it out and tried to force his eyes to adjust to the bright light of the phone.

 

Looking at the text, he stared in disbelief.

  
  


_ 2:47 a.m. _

 

_ Nyma Valentina _

 

_ Can we talk? _


End file.
